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> Volcanic crater on Jupiter's moon Io

Volcanic crater on Jupiter's moon Io

author: Nasa/JPL/Novapix

reference: a-jup05-00222

Image Size 300 DPI: 10 * 9 cm

The colorfulness of the image is only slightly enhanced from what the human eye would see on the scene. The red in the image includes a small amount of infrared energy. Tupan Patera, named after a Brazilian thunder god is shown to be a volcanic depression, about 75 kilometers (47 miles) across, surrounded by cliffs about 900 meters (3000 feet) tall. In the center is a large area that must be higher than the rest of the crater floor because it has not been covered by the dark lavas. Much of the area is coated with a diffuse red deposit that Galileo scientists believe has condensed from sulfur gas escaping from volcanic vents. The floor of Tupan is covered with a surreal pattern of dark black, green, red, and yellow materials. The black material is recent, still-warm lava. The yellow is presumed to be a mix of sulfurous compounds, and the green appears to form where red sulfur has interacted with the dark lavas. Image taken in October 2001.

 

Keywords for this photo:

2001 - ASTRONOMY - CRATER - GALILEAN SATELLITE - GALILEO - IO - JOVIAN MOON - LAVA - SATELLITE - TUPAN PATERA - VOLCANO -