February 12, 2007: Io, moon of Jupiter

It's Neatorama collaboration Monday!



Yesterday's Astronomy Pic of the Day is today's Neato collaboration.

The last time IotD mentioned Io, it sparked a lot of interest. Io is interesting partly because of the two big zits on it. One is in purple, exploding at the top of the shot; the other is pretty much in the middle, looking like a belly button on the thing.

These are active volcanoes, making Io one of the most remarkable places in the solar system. Tidal forces are causing it to have some sort of internal friction, heating it up and blowing it inside out. Like the heat when you rub your hands together, if you did it really fast, so fast that your flesh melted and came out the edge?

APoD sez the one in the middle has been noticed every time Io has been looked at, the first time being in 1979. It's been an active volcano for at least 18 years.

The hole at the top is spewing stuff out 140 kilometers (86 miles) high.

Cellar IotD has managed to not make any fart jokes during this entry.

Be sure to visit Neatorama for more neato items every day!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Undertoad Cellar IotD has managed to not make any fart jokes during this entry.

are the colors altered in that? crazy if they're not. yellow green clouds, red land masses, purple water. has to be life there.

Most astronomy pics are color-altered, but the description just says that one has been sharpened, so maybe those are the real colors.

The one in the middle that "looking like a belly button on the thing" looks like it's dribbling out something red..

Otherwise that is an awesome pic..

oh and carry on with the fart jokes! Makes my day interesting...

I love the astronomy 'pic of the day' website!!

Io

That whole thing is the big pizza zit on the face of the universe...

Io, Io, it's where the fart jokes go.

I guess bringing Uranus into it would be a step too far....?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl I guess bringing Uranus into it would be a step too far....?

This article discusses the various colors of Io as variants of both allotropes and compounds of sulfur.

H2S it's what makes... oh, n/m!

As a satellite of Jupiter, Io is subjected to pretty much unimaginable tidal stresses. It is played almost like an accordion, in the geological sense.

LJ...life would be tough there, even for bacteria...Jupiter also has an unimaginable charged particle field which surrounds it; much of that field is inhabited by - sulphur ions! - which are spewed forth from Io and then become entrapped in the electromagnetic field of Jupiter.

Such particle bombardment makes getting life started very difficult, no matter how much sulphur it likes to eat.

yes, but who put it there?

The obelisks.

or maybe the monoliths...

DOH!

No, no, no...that was Europa.

Yeah, that one was deliberate, but combined with the other one, bleah.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TorasMommy The one in the middle that "looking like a belly button on the thing" looks like it's dribbling out something red..

I like how a lot of space pics look like a lot of deep-sea pics.

yuck. Looks like an oozing carbuncle

Farts, zits, carbuncles...... I'm not eating todays IOtD.

If you look at the upper right on the sphere, you'll see a weasel-like head taking a bite out of the Northern Siberian area.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gawa If you look at the upper right on the sphere, you'll see a weasel-like head taking a bite out of the Northern Siberian area.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gawa If you look at the upper right on the sphere, you'll see a weasel-like head taking a bite out of the Northern Siberian area.

Io does NOT look like my ass.