Clip NASA: 'Glass lake' in the most terrible place in the solar system

According to Live Science, the images released by NASA are of a giant lava lake whose surface is described as "smooth as glass", a stunning and seemingly impossible landscape to exist on a "volcanic moon". " Io.

NASA's Juno spacecraft provided this close-up look by scanning 1,500 km of Io's volcanic surface in December 2023 and January 2024.

These flights provide the closest ever look at Io, with its hundreds of active volcanoes.

According to NASA, the eruptions of supervolcanoes on Io are sometimes so powerful that they can be seen with telescopes on Earth.

New images show Loki Patera, a 200 km wide lava lake, on the surface of Io. Scientists have observed this lava lake for decades. It is located on magma reservoirs under the moon's surface.

As described by scientist Scott Bolton, principal investigator of the Juno mission, the cool lava in the center of the lake is surrounded by molten magma around the edges.

'The exceptional reflection our instruments captured of the lake shows that parts of Io's surface are as smooth as glass, reminiscent of volcanic obsidian glass on Earth. Land' - Mr. Bolton said.

The image also shows rugged rocky islands clustered inside the lava lake.

And more surprisingly, Juno's instruments have determined that Io's surface is smoother than the surface of the three Galilean moons, despite being full of volcanoes.

Io is one of Jupiter's four Galilean moons, observed by Galileo Galilei since the early 17th century, and is also the largest.

Of the four Galiean moons, Europa is strongly believed by NASA to be a "life moon", while Ganymde and Calisto also show some hope.

With its "hellfire" status, Io is unlikely to be able to support life. However, this celestial body has many special features that NASA hopes to discover.

Io is also one of three rare bodies in the solar system with solid evidence of active volcanoes, alongside Earth, Saturn's moon Enceladus and Neptune's moon Triton.

Samuel Daniel

Update 22 April 2024