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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.

Zal Patera on Jupiter's Moon Io

Explanation: The Galileo orbiter 's flyby of Io last November captured an unusual part of Jupiter 's volcanic moon. From 26,000 kilometers away, Zal Patera was found to be a cauldron of flowing lava , gaseous vents , and tremendous peaks . Red lava can be seen in the above picture erupting along the base of the volcanic caldera, while cooling black lava lines the edge of a volcanic plateau. Shadow lengths indicate that the top of Zal Patera towers nearly 5 kilometers over Io 's molten surface. Galileo zoomed past Io again last month , and has begun beaming back images taken only 200 kilometers over Io's surface .

Date March 7, 2000
Credit Credit: Galileo Project , SSI , University of Arizona , JPL , NASA
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.