NASA Probe Spies Plumes Above Jupiter Moon’s Lava Lakes
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS Image processing by Andrea Luck (CC BY) It’s not a big moon relative to some of its neighbors, but Jupiter’s Io is exceedingly active, with volcanoes by the…
Classical Astronomers Observed a Different Great Red Spot on Jupiter
In 1665, astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini observed a massive storm raging on Jupiter. It became known as the Great Red Spot, a swirling oval of clouds that’s almost twice as…
Fresh Lava Flows on Venus Hint at Active Volcanoes
The surface of Venus is littered with thousands of volcanoes, some of which may still be active until today. A fresh look at 30-year-old radar images captured by the Magellan…
Europa’s Icy Crust Is ‘Free-Floating’ Across the Moon’s Hidden Ocean, New Juno Images Suggest
On September 29, 2022, NASA’s Juno spacecraft made its closest flyby of Europa, coming to within 220 miles (355 kilometers) of the Jovian moon’s frozen surface. The closeup view of…
‘Tiger Stripes’ on Enceladus Linked to Moon’s Spectacular Geysers
Jostling on the fault lines of Enceladus’ frozen crust may be responsible for the plumes of icy material spewing from the moon’s watery underbelly, according to a team of researchers…
Juno’s Best Images of Jupiter and Its Moons (So Far)
These three images show the cyclones swirling around Jupiter’s north pole in microwave, visible, and ultraviolet light, respectively. All captured by Juno, the different wavelengths reveal different aspects of the…
See a flyby of Io, a hellish moon with lakes of lava and an otherworldly mountain
NASA’s Juno mission is best known for the gorgeous images of Jupiter that it has taken since its launch in 2011 and arrival at Jupiter in 2016. But the spacecraft…
Yeah, That’s a Freakin’ Lava Lake on a Moon
Two recent flybys of Jupiter’s moon Io by NASA’s Juno spacecraft revealed a couple of stunning surprises: a remarkably steep mountain and islands in the middle of a burbling lava…
Scientists Can Detect Life in Single Grain of Alien Ice
Icy moons like Europa and Enceladus are exciting venues for the prospect of life beyond Earth, because they are thought to contain oceans of water beneath their frigid surfaces. Were…
This Potentially Inhabited Moon Is Churning Out Enough Oxygen for 1 Million Humans
Jupiter’s icy moon Europa produces plenty of oxygen every day, according to new findings based on data from NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The moon has long been of interest to astrobiologists…