Overview
- Juno's Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) identified an unprecedented volcanic hotspot on Io's southern hemisphere during a December 27, 2024, flyby.
- The hotspot, spanning 100,000 square kilometers, is over five times larger than Io's previous record-holder, Loki Patera, and exceeds the size of Earth's Lake Superior.
- With eruptions producing over 80 trillion watts of energy, the volcanic event is six times more powerful than the combined output of all Earth's power plants.
- Io's extreme volcanic activity is driven by tidal heating, caused by gravitational forces from Jupiter and its other large moons, which generate immense internal heat.
- NASA plans further observations during Juno's March 3, 2025, flyby to study surface changes and gain insights into Io's subsurface magma systems and volcanic processes.