10/3/2023 0 Comments Io moon fun facts![]() Io receives about 3,600 rem (36 Sv) of radiation per day. As Io rotates, this torus strips ions from Io as it rotates, effectively making it an electrical reactor which produces radiation levels so strong that a human being could not survive. Io lies in the doughnut-shaped plasma cloud around Jupiter, known as the “Io plasma torus” which is the result of Jupiter’s very strong magnetic field. Radiation on Io is 1000x stronger than is needed to kill a human being. ![]() The colorful appearance is down to the silicates (such as orthopyroxene), sulfur, and sulfur dioxide which frosts the surface and forms the yellow to yellow-green regions. The interior of Io is made of an iron or iron sulfide core but its brown silicate outer layer which gives the planet its distinctive splotchy orange, yellow, red, black and white appear is the most interesting and noticeable. NASA describes Io as “a giant pizza covered with melted cheese and splotches of tomato and ripe olives”. ![]() The Galileo spaceprobe arrived at Jupiter in 1995 after a six year flight and passed as low as 162 miles (261 km) over the surfaces of the Galilean moons, producing the detailed images of the objects we have today. The Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 missions were the first to return photos of Io and the Jovian worlds during their flybys. Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to visit in 1973, and was followed shortly after by Pioneer 11 in 1974. Everything we know about Io comes from the Voyager and Galileo spacecraft missions.Ī number of spacecraft have flown past the planet Jupiter and its moons – sending back images and a lot of information about the Jovian worlds. In the mythological story, Zeus turned Io into a heifer (a cow) to hide his infidelity from his wife Hera. Io was a nymph loved by the Greek god of the skies, Zeus, and the planet which was formerly known as Jupiter I was named for this nymph in the mid-1800s. The moon is named after a nymph seduced by Zeus in Greek mythology. The discovery of Io and the Galilean moons led to the understanding that planets orbit around the Sun – and that Earth was not the centre of our solar system. Technically, Galileo discovered Io the night before, but he wasn’t able to distinguish between Io and Europa until the following night. Galileo Galilei discovered Io on January 8th, 1610 and the discovery, along with the three other Jovian moons Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, were the first moons discovered that were orbiting a planet other than Earth. Size of Io compared to Jupiter Side by side comparison of the size of Jupiter vs it’s moon Io Facts about Io Io was the first discovered moon after Earth’s moon. Like Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, Io was discovered in 1610 by the Italian scientist Galileo. Io is the most volcanically active body in the solar system, spewing out sulphur as high as 300 km (190 miles) in the air. It is the innermost of the Galilean moons that orbit Jupiter. Io is the fifth moon of Jupiter and the fourth largest moon in the solar system.
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