Mapping Io’s Hidden Heat With NASA’s Juno

NASA’s Juno spacecraft has been used to map portions of Io, Jupiter’s volcanic moon, by tracing where its Microwave Radiometer instrument looked during two close flybys, according to a NASA image description released through a monitored public feed.

The graphic shows the sampled areas from two encounters with the moon. Black overlapping lines mark the instrument’s footprints during Perijove 57 on Dec. 30, 2023, when Juno focused mainly on Io’s northern hemisphere. Blue lines show the corresponding coverage from Perijove 58, offering a second pass over a different set of locations on the moon’s surface.

Io is the most volcanically active world in the solar system, and NASA’s use of Juno’s Microwave Radiometer is helping build a picture of heat distribution across the moon’s surface. The illustration highlights where the spacecraft gathered data rather than presenting a visible-light view, making the instrument’s reach and repeat coverage easier to understand.

Because the two flybys targeted different parts of Io, the mapped footprints together give a broader view of the moon than either pass alone. The overlapping tracks also indicate areas where Juno’s measurements were able to sample the same regions more than once, a detail that can help scientists compare readings collected at different times.

The image is part of NASA’s continuing effort to use Juno for observations beyond Jupiter itself. While the spacecraft is best known for studying the giant planet, its close passes by Io have also provided a chance to examine one of the most dynamic bodies in the Jovian system.

The report is based on a monitored public feed from NASA Breaking News and reflects the details available in the posted image description. Source attribution is included here for transparency.

Source: NASA Breaking News - https://science.nasa.gov/photojournal/mapping-ios-hidden-heat-with-nasas-juno/