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APOD

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.

Sizzling Io

Explanation: What's cooking on Io ? This active moon of Jupiter is marked with volcanoes spewing lava that is now known to be hotter than any lava on Earth . Above is the highest resolution color-enhanced image yet composed of the most active surface in our Solar System . Features as small as three kilometers are visible. Sulfur compounds cause many of Io 's unusual colors, while darker regions are probably composed of silicate rock .

Date July 6, 1998
Credit Credit: Galileo Project, JPL, NASA
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.