Hey space fans! 🪐 Have you ever wondered what’s happening on the moons of distant planets? Well, NASA’s Juno spacecraft has just made an exciting discovery on Jupiter’s moon Io (pronounced “Eye-oh”)! 🚀 Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system. It’s a huge gas giant, which means it’s mostly made up of gases like hydrogen and helium. Jupiter is famous for its swirling clouds and massive storms, like the Great Red Spot. But did you know it also has many moons? 🌕 Io is one of Jupiter’s most fascinating moons. It’s about the same size as Earth’s moon, but there’s something really special about it: Io is the most volcanically active place in our entire solar system! 🌋🔥 NASA’s Juno mission has been orbiting Jupiter since 2016, studying the planet’s atmosphere and its moons. Recently, Juno collected new data that allowed scientists to map Io’s temperatures beneath its surface. This helps them understand how Io’s volcanoes work and how they shape the moon’s surface. Isn’t that cool? 😎 For the first time, scientists can see how hot things are below Io’s surface. This tells them a lot about what’s happening inside the moon, like how magma (that’s super hot, melted rock) moves around before it erupts out of volcanoes. 🌋 Juno didn’t just study Io. It also helped scientists learn more about Jupiter’s atmosphere. The spacecraft collected information about fast-moving jet streams (strong winds high up in the atmosphere) near Jupiter’s north pole, which is covered in cyclones (big spinning storms). This helps us understand how Jupiter’s weather works. 🌪️ By studying Jupiter and its moons, scientists learn more about how planets form and how our solar system works. This can even help us understand planets around other stars! 🌟 Scott Bolton, the leader of the Juno mission, said, “As Juno’s orbit takes us to new regions of Jupiter’s complex system, we’re getting a closer look at the immense energy this gas giant wields.” 🚀 Juno was launched on August 5, 2011. It traveled a whopping 1.74 billion miles (that’s 1,740,000,000 miles!) over five years to reach Jupiter on July 4, 2016. Since then, it’s been helping us discover amazing things about the giant planet and its moons. 🌌 Who knows what other incredible discoveries await us in space? Maybe someday, you could be a scientist discovering new things about our universe! 🌠NASA’s Juno Mission Discovers Fiery Volcanoes on Jupiter’s Moon Io! 🌋
Exploring the Giant Planet Jupiter
Meet Io: The Volcanic Moon
Juno’s Amazing Discovery
Understanding Jupiter’s Atmosphere
Why Is This Important?
The Journey of Juno
Keep Looking Up!
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NASA Juno mission reveals volcanic action on Jupiter's moon Io
cgtn.com
