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Science 12 October 2007:
Vol. 318. no. 5848, pp. 240 - 243
DOI: 10.1126/science.1147621
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Reports

Io Volcanism Seen by New Horizons: A Major Eruption of the Tvashtar Volcano

J. R. Spencer,1* S. A. Stern,2 A. F. Cheng,2 H. A. Weaver,3 D. C. Reuter,4 K. Retherford,5 A. Lunsford,4 J. M. Moore,6 O. Abramov,1 R. M. C. Lopes,7 J. E. Perry,8 L. Kamp,7 M. Showalter,9 K. L. Jessup,1 F. Marchis,9 P. M. Schenk,10 C. Dumas11

Jupiter's moon Io is known to host active volcanoes. In February and March 2007, the New Horizons spacecraft obtained a global snapshot of Io's volcanism. A 350-kilometer-high volcanic plume was seen to emanate from the Tvashtar volcano (62°N, 122°W), and its motion was observed. The plume's morphology and dynamics support nonballistic models of large Io plumes and also suggest that most visible plume particles condensed within the plume rather than being ejected from the source. In images taken in Jupiter eclipse, nonthermal visible-wavelength emission was seen from individual volcanoes near Io's sub-Jupiter and anti-Jupiter points. Near-infrared emission from the brightest volcanoes indicates minimum magma temperatures in the 1150- to 1335-kelvin range, consistent with basaltic composition.

1 Southwest Research Institute, 1050 Walnut Street, Suite 300, Boulder, CO 80302, USA.
2 NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC 20546, USA.
3 Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723, USA.
4 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.
5 Southwest Research Institute, Post Office Drawer 28510, San Antonio, TX 78228, USA.
6 NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.
7 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
8 Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
9 Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute, 515 North Whisman Road, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.
10 Lunar and Planetary Institute, 3600 Bay Area Boulevard, Houston, TX 77058, USA.
11 European Southern Observatory, Casilla 19001, Santiago 19, Chile.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: spencer{at}boulder.swri.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
New Surprises in the Largest Magnetosphere of Our Solar System.
N. Krupp (2007)
Science 318, 216-217
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Io's Atmospheric Response to Eclipse: UV Aurorae Observations.
K. D. Retherford, J. R. Spencer, S. A. Stern, J. Saur, D. F. Strobel, A. J. Steffl, G. R. Gladstone, H. A. Weaver, A. F. Cheng, J. Wm. Parker, et al. (2007)
Science 318, 237-240
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


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