SPACE.com -- Volcanic Io: Images of Fiery Change

Galileo to Take Close Look at Io's Volcanoes

Io -- Risky Business for Galileo Probe

Auroral Fires Glimmer in Io's Atmosphere


	Volcanic Io: Images of Fiery Change By Kenneth Silber Staff Writer posted: 04:48 pm ET 08 October 1999

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As the Galileo spacecraft approaches Jupiter's volcanic moon Io for a planned flyby (Monday, 1:06 a.m. Eastern Time), newly released images taken previously by the craft show how dramatic and fast-changing Io can be.

Below are images of Io's volcanically active Pillan Patera region. The one on the left was taken in April 1997. The bright red ring is a deposit, probably containing sulfur, from the plume of the volcano Pele.

The middle image was taken in September 1997, after the volcano Pillan Patera had erupted and produced a deposit 250 miles wide (400 kilometers), which appears as a dark spot above and to the right of center.

The third image, from July 1999, shows red material from Pele encroaching on the dark spot but not entirely obscuring it; this may indicate that both volcanoes remain active. Moreover, a third, unnamed volcano to Pillan Patera's right has erupted.

Analytical Graphics has provided space.com with a Quicktime animation of the upcoming flyby maneuver. It is available for download in two versions, hi-res (7Mb) and low-res (1.5Mb).

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