(ORDO NEWS) — In front of you is the volcanic crater Tupan Patera on Jupiter’s moon Io , the average width of which is 80 kilometers and a depth of 900 meters.
Such an unusual variety of colors is provided by the interaction of lava with regolith saturated with sulfur.
Most of the volcanic crater is covered with red-orange material, which is a deposit formed during the condensation of sulfur dioxide escaping from volcanic vents.
The black material is fresh, still warm lava. The yellow color comes from a mixture of sulphurous deposits, and a greenish tint is seen where the red material interacts with the yellow.
An image in the most natural colors with a resolution of 135 meters per pixel was obtained by NASA‘s Galileo spacecraft on October 15, 2001. Tupan Patera is one of at least 400 active volcanic formations found on Io.
Galileo reached the Jupiter system on December 8, 1995 and worked there until September 21, 2003.
The mission ended with the fact that Galileo was sent into the atmosphere of Jupiter, where gigantic pressure and high temperatures destroyed the probe, which significantly expanded our knowledge of the largest planet in the solar system and its amazing satellites.
NASA’s Juno spacecraft is currently orbiting Jupiter , and NASA’s Europa Clipper will be sent to Europa, the gas giant’s icy moon, in 2024 to explore a potentially habitable world.
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