![]() ![]() After the next two Io flybys, on May 16 and July 31, Juno’s orbital period will remain fixed at 32 days. The Europa flyby on September 29, 2022, reduced the orbital period to 38 days. The first science flyby occurred 53 days later, and the spacecraft continued with that orbital period until its flyby of Ganymede on June 7, 2021, which reduced its orbital period to 43 days. The spacecraft arrived at Jupiter on July 4, 2016. Juno has been orbiting Jupiter for more than 2,505 Earth days and flown over 510 million miles (820 million kilometers). Juno completed its 50th close pass of the gas giant on April 8, 2023. This downloadable graphic contains 50 image highlights from NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter. All of these flybys are providing spectacular views of the volcanic activity of this amazing moon. “Our upcoming flybys in July and October will bring us even closer, leading up to our twin flyby encounters with Io in December of this year and February of next year, when we fly within 1,500 kilometers of its surface. This 51st orbit will provide our closest look yet at this tortured moon,” said Bolton. “We are entering into another amazing part of Juno’s mission as we get closer and closer to Io with successive orbits. Along with its visible light imager JunoCam, the spacecraft’s JIRAM (Jovian InfraRed Auroral Mapper), SRU (Stellar Reference Unit), and MWR (Microwave Radiometer) will be studying Io’s volcanoes and how volcanic eruptions interact with Jupiter’s powerful magnetosphere and auroras. While Juno was designed to study Jupiter, its many sensors have additionally provided a wealth of data on the planet’s moons. These composite views depicting volcanic activity on Io were generated using both visible light and infrared data collected by NASA’s Juno spacecraft during flybys of the Jovian moon on Decem(left) and March 1, 2023.Ĭredit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ASI/INAF/JIRAM The result is that Io is continuously stretched and squeezed, actions linked to the creation of the lava seen erupting from its many volcanoes. Not only is the biggest planet in the solar system forever pulling at it gravitationally, but so are its Galilean siblings – Europa and the biggest moon in the solar system, Ganymede. Slightly larger than Earth’s moon, Io is a world in constant torment. “By observing it over time on multiple passes, we can watch how the volcanoes vary – how often they erupt, how bright and hot they are, whether they are linked to a group or solo, and if the shape of the lava flow changes.” “Io is the most volcanic celestial body that we know of in our solar system,” said Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Image processing, left to right: Björn Jónsson (CC NC SA), Jason Perry (CC NC SA), Mike Ravine (CC BY), Kevin M. Credit: Image data: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/. The resolution of the images gets progressively better as the distance between spacecraft and moon decreases with each flyby (perijove, or PJ). This composite image of Io was generated using data collected by the JunoCam imager aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft during four flybys of the Jovian moon. To date, Juno has performed 50 flybys of Jupiter and also collected data during close encounters with three of the four Galilean moons – the icy worlds Europa and Ganymede, and fiery Io. ![]() Now in the third year of its extended mission to investigate the interior of Jupiter, the solar-powered spacecraft will also explore the ring system where some of the gas giant’s inner moons reside. ![]() The flyby of the Jovian moon was the closest to date, at an altitude of about 22,060 miles (35,500 kilometers). NASA’s Juno spacecraft flew past Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io on May 16, and then the gas giant itself soon after. The gas giant orbiter has flown over 510 million miles and also documented close encounters with three of Jupiter’s four largest moons. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS, Kevin M. At the time of closest approach, Juno was about 32,000 miles (51,500 kilometers) away from Io. This JunoCam image of the Jovian moon Io was collected during Juno’s flyby of the moon on March 1, 2023. ![]()
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