Io Flashcards
What is Io?
One of the four Galilean moons of the planet Jupiter.
The fourth largest moon in the solar system.
3,642 kilometers in diameter.
Harsh surface environment.
Who discovered Io?
Galileo Galilei.
Io was the moon discovered orbiting a planet other than Earth.
The naming of Io
Galileo originally called Jupiter’s moons the Medicean planets, and refereed to the individual numerically as I, II, III, and IV.
It wouldn’t be until the mid-1800s that the names of the Galilean moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, would be officially adopted.
What is Io named after?
Named after a lover of Zeus who he turned into a cow
What makes Io so special?
1) Io has a lot in common with terrestrial planets planets. Its surface is made of silicate lava
2) Io is the most volcanically active world in the Solar System and has hundred of volcanos.
Why does Io have so many volcanos?
is the result of a tug-of-war between Jupiter’s powerful gravity and smaller but precisely timed pulls from two neighboring moons that orbit farther from Jupiter – Europa and Ganymede.
The composition of Io
Crust, mantle, magma, core
How does Io influence Jupiter?
1) The orbit of Io cuts across the Jupiter’s powerful magnetic lines of force, thus turning Io into an electric generator.
2) Io can develop 400,000 volts across itself and create an electric current of 3 million amperes
3) Brings lightening to the upper atmosphere of Jupiter.
Orbit and rotation
Io always points the same side toward Jupiter in its orbit.
The large moons Europa and Ganymede perturb Io’s orbit into an irregularly elliptical one.
Io’s orbit is 262,000 miles (more or less) from Jupiter.
What is observing Io?
Voyager 1 & Voyager 2 (1979)
