The newly-discovered volcanic hotspot is larger than Earth's Lake Superior, and belches out eruptions six times the total energy of all the world's power plants.
"NASA's Juno spacecraft had two really close flybys of Io during its extended mission," said Dr. Scott Bolton, a researcher at the Southwest Research Institute. "And while each flyby provided data on the tormented moon that exceeded our expectations, the data from this latest — and more distant — flyby really blew our minds." "This is the most powerful volcanic event ever recorded on the most volcanic world in our Solar System — so that's really saying something." Slightly larger than Earth's Moon, Io is the most volcanically active body in the Solar System. It is the innermost of Jupiter's Galilean moons, which in addition to Io include Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Io has more than 400 active volcanoes, which are caused by tidal heating, the result of gravitational forces from Jupiter and other Jovian moons. During its extended mission, Juno's trajectory passes by Io every other orbit, flying over the same part of the moon each time. Previously, the spacecraft made close flybys of Io in December 2023 and February 2024, getting within about 1,500 km (930 miles) of its surface. The latest flyby took place on…