New radio images collected by telescopic arrays on Earth have for the first time observed the direct effect of this volcanic activity on the lunar atmosphere.
The study, including data collected from these images, has been adapted for future publication in the Journal of Planetary Science.
Images removed by the Alma or Atacama Large millimeter / submillimeter array in Chile provide a new perspective on the moon and its signature color palette in yellow, white, orange and red. These colors are due to sulfuric gases emanating from many lunar volcanoes that freeze when the icy surface meets cold temperatures.
However, the idea of a crescent moon in a volcano suggests that Io would have a warm celestial body, but Io’s surface is always cold at a negative 230 degrees Fahrenheit.
Io’s atmosphere is so pale that it is about a billion times thinner than Earth. Previous observations and lunar studies have shown that this atmosphere consists mostly of sulfur dioxide gas.
“However, it is not known which process accelerates the dynamics in the Iona atmosphere,” said study author Imke D. Peters, a professor of astronomy, earth and planetary science at the University of California, Berkeley. “Is this volcanic activity, or has the gas evaporated from the icy surface (solid to aerated state) when the ice is in sunlight?”
Researchers used ALMA to get images of the moon moving in and out of Jupiter’s shadow to understand more about the moon’s atmosphere.
“When io goes into the shadow of Jupiter and there is direct sunlight, it is very cold for sulfur dioxide gas, and it condenses on the surface of ion. During that time we can only see the sulfur dioxide obtained from the volcano. So we can see. That’s how “volcanic activity has a profound effect on the atmosphere,” said Stia Luzz-Cook, a co-founder and observational astronaut at Columbia University, in a statement.
The clarity of the alma images reveals specific plumes of sulfur dioxide and sulfur monoxide coming from the volcano, contributing between 30% to 50% of the lunar atmosphere. Scientists also observed potassium chloride gas, a common component of magma emanating from volcanoes. Researchers believe this suggests that magma reservoirs are different between volcanoes.
Io is a little bigger than our moon, but it can’t be any different. In addition, its environment is unlike anything on earth.
In Greek mythology there are lava fountains in the moon named after the mortal woman who transformed into a cow during the battle between Zeus and Hera that can erupt to reach dozens of miles.
Some of Iona’s volcanoes are so powerful that their eruptions can be seen on Earth using large telescopes.
The surface is also covered by lakes of molten silicate lava. With such a dramatic landscape, it would be an adventure to fly through Io, but you don’t want to be there.
Io is caught between the massive gravity of Jupiter and the orbits of other moons on planets such as Europa and Ganymede, contributing to activity on Io. Some of its volcanoes are as vast as Loke Patera, which is 124 miles in total.
The Moon is in a locked orbit around Jupiter, meaning that the same side of the Moon always faces the planet.
Hot volcanoes on a cold moon
A.L.M.A. The images show that the atmosphere of Io becomes extremely unstable when passing through the vast shadow of Jupiter. This happens every 42 hours during Io’s orbit around Jupiter.
During these “eclipses”, drops of ion sulfur dioxide gas, which indicate that the Moon’s lower atmosphere basically breaks down and freezes on the surface. But as Io emerges from Jupiter’s shadow and receives sunlight, the gas returns.
“The temperature rises as soon as Io goes into sunlight, and you get all this (sulfur dioxide) ice sinking into the gas, and you improve the atmosphere in about 10 minutes, faster than the models predicted.” .
But researchers’ data show that sulfur dioxide gas does not accumulate at the time of the temperature drop ion when Jupiter is in the shadow. In fact, researchers were able to detect global radio emissions of alma-sulfur dioxide, which researchers call stealth volcanoes, which do not smoke or detect particles, but release air into the atmosphere that is boring and warm enough to keep them cool.
How do such hot processes manifest on such a cold moon? Jupiter, Ganymede, and Europa heat up the interior of the tug ion, creating a volcano that releases hot sulfur dioxide gas.
Eventually, sulfur dioxide on the surface of the ion condenses and freezes the gas in a thick layer of ice. That layer is covered with volcanic dust, which forms the signature colors of Iona.
“By studying Iona’s atmosphere and volcanic activity, we will learn not only about the volcano itself, but also about the tidal heating process and the interior of the Iona,” Luzz-Cook said.
Future observations and studies will allow researchers to determine the low atmospheric temperature of Iona, which will remain unknown for now.
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