Uploaded December 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Full title: "The Heart of Io’s Rage – What Makes the Most Volatile World in the Solar System Tick?"
Planetary scientists have long debated what drives Io’s molten fury.
NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter recently executed two flybys of the most volcanic body in our solar system – the first close flybys of the Jovian moon in over two decades. Data collected during the flybys from Juno’s high-precision radio frequency experiment provided groundbreaking insight into one of the most outstanding questions in planetary science – how are the volcanoes of Io powered? Is the most volcanic world in our solar system powered by a global magma ocean – or is something else driving them?
If Io does have a global magma ocean driving its volcanism, this would be the first direct evidence of such in our solar system (planetary scientists have suggested this may be common in the early evolution of Earth, our own moon and other bodies throughout the Universe). If the alternative were true – the 100’s of volcanoes and lava lakes that litter the surface of the innermost Galilean moon must be driven by individual channels of magma similar to present-day Earth’s volcanoes.
The answer not only impacts Jovian science. It also has implications for theories on other planetary bodies that have been impacted by volcanism early in their evolution.
The Juno science team knows the answer.
The news briefing will be based on several Juno science papers reporting results from Juno’s investigation of Io, some of which will be tailored for release during the week of AGU. Among them will be the Nature “Io’s Tidal Response Precludes a Shallow Magma Ocean” and “Observations of Loki Patera by Juno during close flybys.”
Other Io findings that will be chronicled during the briefing includes new discoveries about Io’s interior by Juno’s MWR instrument, science results on a newly discovered volcano, and what the flybys of Io tell us about how Io drives Jupiter’s magnetosphere.
Panelists:
Delia Santiago-Materese, NASA HQ
Scott Bolton, Southwest Research Institute
Ryan Park, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Alessandro Mura, National Institute for Astrophysics
Heidi Becker, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
This press conference was recorded at AGU's 2024 Annual Meeting on 12 December 2024.
Full title: "The Heart of Io’s Rage – What Makes the Most Volatile World in the Solar System Tick?"
Planetary scientists have long debated what drives Io’s molten fury.
NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter recently executed two flybys of the most volcanic body in our solar system – the first close flybys of the Jovian moon in over two decades. Data collected during the flybys from Juno’s high-precision radio frequency experiment provided groundbreaking insight into one of the most outstanding questions in planetary science – how are the volcanoes of Io powered? Is the most volcanic world in our solar system powered by a global magma ocean – or is something else driving them?
If Io does have a global magma ocean driving its volcanism, this would be the first direct evidence of such in our solar system (planetary scientists have suggested this may be common in the early evolution of Earth, our own moon and other bodies throughout the Universe). If the alternative were true – the 100’s of volcanoes and lava lakes that litter the surface of the innermost Galilean moon must be driven by individual channels of magma similar to present-day Earth’s volcanoes.
The answer not only impacts Jovian science. It also has implications for theories on other planetary bodies that have been impacted by volcanism early in their evolution.
The Juno science team knows the answer.
The news briefing will be based on several Juno science papers reporting results from Juno’s investigation of Io, some of which will be tailored for release during the week of AGU. Among them will be the Nature “Io’s Tidal Response Precludes a Shallow Magma Ocean” and “Observations of Loki Patera by Juno during close flybys.”
Other Io findings that will be chronicled during the briefing includes new discoveries about Io’s interior by Juno’s MWR instrument, science results on a newly discovered volcano, and what the flybys of Io tell us about how Io drives Jupiter’s magnetosphere.
Panelists:
Delia Santiago-Materese, NASA HQ
Scott Bolton, Southwest Research Institute
Ryan Park, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Alessandro Mura, National Institute for Astrophysics
Heidi Becker, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
This press conference was recorded at AGU's 2024 Annual Meeting on 12 December 2024.
