Kein Magma-Ozean für Io, Jupiters vulkanbedeckten Mond

> … planetary scientists shared new findings — that Io likely has no magma ocean, but rather a rigid, partially molten interior much like that of Earth’s. Their results were based on new data from NASA’s Juno orbiter, which has been exploring Jupiter and its Galilean moons since its arrival in 2016.

There appear to be many magma chambers below the surface, and even lava lakes on the surface.

> One possible reason that Io might lack a magma ocean is the hundreds of volcanic eruptions occurring on its surface, which dissipate much of the heat generated down below. The Juno team also took the opportunity to observe Io’s unusual surface features during the flybys. Using the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM), scientists observed Io’s largest lake, Loki Patera. Spanning 120 miles, Loki would fill the center of the Mediterranean Sea if it were on Earth. But, unlike the Mediterranean, Loki is made up entirely of lava.

> “It’s a unicorn in the solar system,” says Alessandro Mura (National Institute for Astrophysics), a member of the Juno science team who led the Loki study. Even more remarkable is that the lake hosts at least 20 islands, which miraculously have stayed intact since Voyager’s observations nearly a half century ago.