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.
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. |



