![]() ![]() Viewed from Earth, Io remained just a point of light until the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when it became possible to resolve its large-scale surface features, such as the dark red polar and bright equatorial regions. Io played a significant role in the development of astronomy in the 17th and 18th centuries discovered in January 1610 by Galileo Galilei, along with the other Galilean satellites, this discovery furthered the adoption of the Copernican model of the Solar System, the development of Kepler's laws of motion, and the first measurement of the speed of light. Io's volcanic ejecta also produce a large plasma torus around Jupiter. The materials produced by this volcanism make up Io's thin, patchy atmosphere and Jupiter's extensive magnetosphere. Numerous extensive lava flows, several more than 500 km (300 mi) in length, also mark the surface. Its volcanic plumes and lava flows produce large surface changes and paint the surface in various subtle shades of yellow, red, white, black, and green, largely due to allotropes and compounds of sulfur. Io's volcanism is responsible for many of its unique features. Most of Io's surface is composed of extensive plains with a frosty coating of sulfur and sulfur dioxide. Unlike most moons in the outer Solar System, which are mostly composed of water ice, Io is primarily composed of silicate rock surrounding a molten iron or iron sulfide core. Some of these peaks are taller than Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth's surface. Io's surface is also dotted with more than 100 mountains that have been uplifted by extensive compression at the base of Io's silicate crust. Several volcanoes produce plumes of sulfur and sulfur dioxide that climb as high as 500 km (300 mi) above the surface. This extreme geologic activity is the result of tidal heating from friction generated within Io's interior as it is pulled between Jupiter and the other Galilean moons-Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. With over 400 active volcanoes, Io is the most geologically active object in the Solar System. It was discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei and was named after the mythological character Io, a priestess of Hera who became one of Zeus's lovers. It is the fourth-largest moon in the Solar System, has the highest density of all of them, and has the lowest amount of water (by atomic ratio) of any known astronomical object in the Solar System. ![]() Io (/ˈaɪ.oʊ/), or Jupiter I, is the innermost and third-largest of the four Galilean moons of the planet Jupiter. ![]()
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