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Last Saturday, a NASA spacecraft flew near Io, one of Jupiter’s four large moons. Juno managed to approach the moon, known for its volcanic activity, to within 1,500 kilometers of its surface. And this resulted in special images.
First, NASA always releases the raw footage and asks the public to edit the photos. Some have now added colors to the images or highlighted certain details. This makes the photos more beautiful and clearer.
Three cameras on board
We previously wrote about Juno’s visit to the pizza moon Io, nicknamed because of its volcanic surface. Io has more than four hundred volcanoes, more than any other celestial body in our solar system. This is the first time in twenty years that a space probe has come this close to the surface.
The mission’s goal is to collect information about the nature of volcanic activity on the Moon. For example, is there a magma ocean hidden beneath the surface, and how important are Jupiter’s tidal forces that exert great pressure on Io? Not all of these questions need to be answered now. On February 3, Juno will come close to the gas giant’s moon again.
The spacecraft has three cameras on board: the Jupiter infrared aurora mapper (JIRAM), which takes infrared images to measure the heat given off by volcanoes and craters. The Stellar reference unit, which delivers photos of the surface in the highest resolution to date. And third, there is the JunoCam, which takes color images of visible light.
Wear visible
JunoCam captured the photos published below. However, the camera is starting to show signs of wear. Due to the large amount of radiation Juno is exposed to, it was assumed that the probe would have been written off much sooner, but so far it is holding up quite well, including the JunoCam. However, the latest images clearly show for the first time that the camera is on its last legs. The photos suffer from a reduction in the camera’s dynamic range and an increase in background noise.
NASA is calling on citizen scientists to find new ways to manipulate these images “to continue to reveal the beauty and mysteries of Jupiter and its moons.”
It looks like it worked well:
Mountains, craters and lava flows, the editor of this photo calls it the best images of all time from Io. Image: Gorkem_K_Oz The orange color makes Io even more beautiful. Image: Diego19771 The day and night pages are highlighted here. Image: Gorkem_K_Oz The craters are even clearer. Image: PERIJOVE 57 Even more details about where the photo was taken. Image: tthomopoulos Image: Maquet-80 Enlarged to the volcanoes on Io. Image: Adam Hurcewicz The original photo from NASA: Image: NASA And one more thing. Image: NASA
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