|
 |
 advertisement
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Cassini and Galileo Spy Massive Plumes on Io
By SPACE.com staff
posted: 02:48 pm ET
29 March 2001
|
jupiter_io_plume_010329 Two NASA spacecraft jointly observing Jupiter's moon Io this winter captured images of a towering volcanic plume never seen before, along with a bright red ring of fresh surface deposits surrounding its source. Combined information from images taken by the Cassini and Galileo spacecraft indicates the new plume is about the same size -- nearly 250 miles (400 kilometers) high -- as a long-lived plume from Io's Pele volcano. Pele's plume and ring are also seen in the new images. The new plume originates from a volcanic feature named Tvashtar Catena near Io's north pole. Scientists were astounded to discover so large a plume so near the pole, because all active plumes previously detected on Io have been over equatorial regions and no others have approached Pele's in size, said University of Arizona planetary scientist Dr. Alfred McEwen. Galileo might pass right through the Tvashtar plume in August, if the plume persists until then. The spacecraft will be flying over that part of Io at an altitude of 224 miles (360 kilometers). Material in the plume is tenuous enough to present little risk to the spacecraft, and passing through it could give an opportunity to analyze the makeup of the plume, said Dr. Torrence Johnson, Galileo project scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Cassini is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL manages Cassini and Galileo for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
|
|
|
|
|
