Io , the volcanic , hellishmoon of Jupiter , has a problem . Its atmosphere , which consist in the first place of sulfur compound , has collapse – like a punctured balloon , it appears to have rapidly puncture .
Remarkably , this is n’t the first time this has happen , nor will it be the last . write in theJournal of Geophysical Research , a squad of researcher explain how they ’ve observed Io ’s atmosphere collapsing for two hours every individual sidereal day on Io , which lasts for 1.7 Earth daytime .
peer through the sizable Gemini North scope in Hawaii , the team noticed that this cycle of collapse and ostentation seemed to occur every time Io go in and out ofJupiter ’s shadow . When shrouded in darkness , Io ’s atmospherical atomic number 16 dioxide experience temperature of around -168 ° C ( -270 ° F ) , down from the relatively toasty -148 ° C ( -235 ° F ) it bathe in in direct sunlight .
This rapid temperature dip stimulate most of the atmosphere to freeze and rain down on the surface as a near - uniform blanket of sulfurous frost . When it moves back into the light , this freeze sublimates ( turns of a sudden from a solid into a gas ) , soars back up into the sky , and “ refuels ” the atmosphere .
“ Though Io ’s hyperactive volcano are the ultimate root of the sulfur dioxide , sunlight controls the atmospheric air pressure on a everyday basis by controlling the temperature of the ice on the control surface , ” co - writer John Spencer , a penis of the Southwest Research Institute , said in astatement . “ We ’ve long suspect this , but can finally learn it happen . ”
Although this atmospheric collapse sounds quite dramatic and honestly inconvenient to any visiting appendage of our own specie , Io is laughably wild to life for a whole chain of reasons . For one thing , its ephemeral , high-flown standard atmosphere is actually so slender that the synodic month is n’t able to continue much heat – so at the surface , for the most part , you ’d freeze to demise within proceedings .
Gif in text : A volcanic feather emerging from Io ’s Tvashtar volcano , as go steady by NASA ’s New Horizons probe . NASA
Far from being a frigid , frost - report wasteland , though , Io is a synthesis of methamphetamine and fire . Thanks to the moon ’s ethereal dancing with Jupiter and the nearby moons of Ganymede and Europa , a knock-down gravitational personnel acts on its innards , creating tides within the sway in the way our own Mooncreates tidesin Earth ’s ocean .
This so - called “ tidal heating ” mechanism manufactures vast volumes of magma , which makes Io the most volcanic object sleep with to science . At present , it is cover in at least 400 active volcanoes , many of which produce lava flow hotter than 1,300 ° C ( 2,400 ° farad ) that achieve duration of up to several hundred klick . Clearly , these would chop-chop kill any incompetent spaceman that remain firm in their way .
Thanks to a combination of relatively volatile volcanism , a weak gravitative field , and an incredibly thin atmosphere , eruption can create iridescent flaming fountains that reach altitude of nearly 500 kilometer ( 310 miles ) – around57 sentence the height of Mount Everest . Many of these plume resupply Io ’s active ambience with its sulfur dioxide .
On function , though , these columns of lava often breach the tabu case of the moon ’s atmosphere and disperse out into outer space as beautiful , sulfur - filled , downhearted , umbrella - form formations . This ejected sulfur is then whisked away by Jupiter ’s powerfulmagnetosphereto the melodic phrase of about 0.9 tonne ( 1 long ton ) per second .
Ultimately , this fuel a highly energetic ring of particles called the “ plasma torus ” that pass off a ridiculous amount of ultraviolet radiation , black to any form of life within bare moments of run across it .
So do n’t vex about the atmospheric crash , budding astronauts – from a shield of radiation therapy - pumping doom to lava menses chuck out onto a deathly cold-blooded crust , there are plenty of other things there that would kill you first .
Image in text : Auroral glow in Io ’s upper atmosphere . The bluish - over-embellished colour making up most of the aurora comes from the volcanically - produced S compound . NASA / JPL / University of Arizona
