Lava lakes on Io's surface had previously been found in a few locations, such as the 127-mile-long lake Loki Patera. This study reveals that these lakes are extremely common on the moon, and the ...

The latest images were taken on a flyby of Io on December 27, when it wasn’t even particularly close in comparison to previous visits, at 46,200 miles from the moon’s surface.

Io is the most geologically active moon in the solar system, possessing hundreds of active volcanoes. So, the existence of lava flows on the surface is not a shock.

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.

As Io is squeezed and stretched by Jupiter's gravity, its solid rocky surface has been turned into the most volcanically active place in our solar system. According to NASA, hundreds of active ...

Meet Loki Patera, the largest volcanic depression on Io. It is an enormous lava lake. On Earth, it would be the 13th largest lake in the world. In the middle of the lake, there is an island rising ...

Io, the first Galilean moon of Jupiter—The Volcano World, with its molten silicate lava lakes and hundreds of active volcanoes spewing lava far above its surface, it’s easy to be in complete awe at ...

Thus, the surface of Io is constantly renewing itself, filling in any impact craters with molten lava lakes and spreading smooth new floodplains of liquid rock, " writes NASA on its website ...

NASA says Io is "the most volcanically active body in the solar system," with hundreds of active volcanoes on its surface.

Together, the observations point to a rigid, mostly solid interior beneath Io’s surface, rather than a global magma ocean — solving a 45-year mystery started by Voyager 1’s observations.