JUPITORS IO MOON ENERGY SOURCE UPDATE

Before Juno, our last visit to Io was with the Galileo spacecraft, over 20 years ago.

JUPITORS IO MOON ENERGY SOURCE UPDATE

That’s set to update our knowledge of the moon significantly. On a recent flyby, Juno got within 80,000 km of the so-called “pizza moon,” and a future pass will get as close as 1,500 km. New data collected by NASA’s Juno spacecraft suggests that despite this rugged, unhospitable exterior, Io could still host living things. Io, in comparison, is a hot and volcanic place. Io’s volcanic eruptions can be huge in scale, as seen by Galileo in 1997. It too plays host to subsurface oceans which could theoretically host life. Saturn’s moon Enceladus has also been considered a strong contender, for a plume of methane erupting from its surface. Given that we know life and water are so closely intertwined here on Earth, that has guided our search elsewhere. That’s largely down to the fact that those moons play host to subsurface oceans. Other moons of Jupiter, like Europa and Ganymede, have been considered far more likely candidates. When it comes to places to search for life, Io hasn’t really been at the top of the list. Let’s take a look at what makes Io special, and what we might hope to find there. The latest candidate for hosting nearby life is Jupiter’s moon, Io. Or perhaps more likely, look at under a microscope. That left scientists the world over to start looking elsewhere for new lifeforms for us to talk to, conquer, or play bridge with. Since then, we’ve concluded there isn’t, much to everyone’s disappointment. This ability to generate heat in a subsurface ocean increases the chance of life on bodies like Europa and Enceladus.It was many years ago now when David Bowie asked if there was life on Mars. Other moons in the Solar System undergo tidal heating, and they too may have more heat generated by this process, including heat from the movement of water. When the molten rock flows, it may swirl and rub against the surrounding rock, thus generating heat. The team who wrote the paper believe that the subsurface ocean is a mixture of molten and solid rock. Liquids, especially if they are sticky (or viscous), can produce heat through friction. The movement of this magma would generate extra heat. A study published in 2015, explains the eastern shift by an ocean of molten rock under the surface. They are shifted 30 to 60 degrees to the East. Īlthough there is general agreement that the cause of the heat as manifested in Io's many volcanoes is tidal heating from the pull of gravity from Jupiter and its moon Europa, the volcanoes are not in the positions predicted with tidal heating. The friction-induced heating drives strong volcanic activities on the surface of Io. The varying distance between Jupiter and Io continually changes the degree of distortion of Io's shape and flexes its interior, frictionally heating it. Io is the innermost of this set of resonant moons, and their interactions maintain its orbit in an eccentric (elliptical) state.

Differently from the Earth’s only moon, Jupiter has two other large moons ( Europa and Ganymede) that are in an orbital resonance with it. This difference in gravitational forces cause distortion of Io’s shape. As Jupiter is very massive, the side of Io nearest to Jupiter has a slightly larger gravitational pull than the opposite side.

The major heating source of Earth and its moon is radioactive heating, but the heating source on Io is tidal heating. This is caused by the heating mechanism of Io. Io has a similar mass and size as the Moon, but Io is the most geologically active body in the Solar System. Orbital and rotational energy are dissipated as heat in the crust of the moon. Tidal heating of Io (also known as tidal working) occurs through the tidal friction processes between Jupiter and its moon. (C) Earth's moon's orbit is circular, so the moon's shape doesn't change.(factually untrue, Io's orbit is 10 times more circular than our moon's) Io's shape changes as it completes its orbit. Gravity from these bodies pull Io in varying directions. (A) Of the four major moons of Jupiter, Io is the inner-most one. Dissipation of orbital and rotational friction between Jupiter and Io Tidal heating on Io.

Jupitors io moon energy source