Here’s how it works. A volcanic plume ejects gas and particles about 60 miles (100 kilometers) above the surface of Jupiter's moon Io, the most volcanically active body in the solar system.

Our Moon’s gray, colorless, unchanging appearance contrasts with Io’s ever-mutating yellows, oranges, and reds — mostly forms of sulfur in various stages of solidification.

Cornell University. "Volcanoes may help reveal interior heat on Jupiter moon." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 19 September 2024. <www.sciencedaily.com / releases / 2024 / 09 / 240919174819.htm>.

But the moon’s wild volcanic activity wasn’t detected until Voyager 1 flew by Jupiter and its moons in 1979, revealing Io’s dynamic surface that resembled a pepperoni pizza, Bolton said.

A recent study of Io’s sulfurous atmosphere suggests that Jupiter’s moon has been a volcanic hellscape for almost the Solar System’s entire 4.57 billion-year history.

The third biggest moon in Jupiter’s “Jovian” system, Io is no stranger to the rumbles and roars of volcanoes. That’s because it’s richer in volcanic activity than any other moon in our solar system, ...

Io is probably one of the most well-known moons in the solar system. Orbiting 422,000 kilometers above Jupiter, Io is the innermost of the four Galilean moons. Io, along with the other three ...

Jupiter's volcanic moon Io doesn't appear to have a subsurface ocean of magma, resolving some issues about how Io's volcanoes erupt and raising broader questions about similar magma oceans within ...

The lava was evidently extremely hot as well—3000°F or more—suggesting that more of Io’s interior is melted than planetary scientists have previously thought.