Astronomy Picture of the Day
Posted By admin On March 25, 2011 @ 6:20 pm In Photo Essays | Comments Disabled
[1]
Io in True Color
Credit: Galileo Project [2], JPL [3], NASA [4]
Explanation: The strangest moon in the Solar System [5] is bright yellow. This picture [6], an attempt to show how Io would appear in the “true colors” perceptible to the average human eye, was taken in 1999 July by the Galileo spacecraft [7] that orbited Jupiter from 1995 to 2003. Io’s colors derive from sulfur [8] and molten silicate rock [9]. The unusual surface of Io [10] is kept very young by its system of active volcanoes [11]. The intense tidal gravity [12] of Jupiter [13] stretches Io [14] and damps wobbles caused by Jupiter’s other Galilean moons [15]. The resulting friction [16] greatly heats Io [17]‘s interior, causing molten rock [18] to explode through the surface. Io’s volcanoes [19] are so active that they are effectively turning the whole moon inside out. Some of Io [20]‘s volcanic lava is so hot it glows in the dark [21].
Visit the NASA/JPL website to view more Astronomy Pictures of the Day [22]
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URL to article: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com/2011/03/25/astronomy-picture-of-the-day-43/
URLs in this post:
[1] Image: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/iotruecolor_galileo_27001.jpg
[2] Galileo Project: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/galileo/
[3] JPL: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/
[4] NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/
[5] Solar System: http://www.nineplanets.org/overview.html
[6] picture: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA02308
[7] Galileo spacecraft: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/galileo/mission/spacecraft.cfm
[8] sulfur: http://periodic.lanl.gov/elements/16.html
[9] silicate rock: http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/geology/min_types.html
[10] surface of Io: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap961029.html
[11] active volcanoes: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap960805.html
[12] tidal gravity: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_force
[13] Jupiter: http://www.solarviews.com/eng/jupiter.htm
[14] Io: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXeIll6YYQs
[15] Galilean moons: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap001118.html
[16] friction: http://www.pa.uky.edu/~phy211/Friction_book.html
[17] Io: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Io_%28moon%29
[18] molten rock: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070918.html
[19] Io’s volcanoes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdkOngxCqQo
[20] Io: http://www.nineplanets.org/io.html
[21] glows in the dark: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1998Icar..135..181M
[22] Astronomy Pictures of the Day: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/
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