Noelle Knight

PHYS 1040
10/8/14
Solar System Paper

The planet, Jupiter, has eighteen or more moons. Of these, Io is the fifth moon. The
moon was discovered by Galileo Galilei on January 7, 1610. However, Simon Marius tried to
discredit Galileo by claiming that he had discovered Jupiters moons on December 29, 1609.
Galileo was quick to point out that Marius was still using the Julian calendar and that when the
discrepancy between the Julian and Gregorian calendars was applied to Marius discovery date,
it corresponded to Jan 8, 1610, a day after Galileos own first observation (Beebe, 1994).
Ios name originates in Greek mythology. It was named after the daughter of Inachus
who was raped by the Greek god Zeus. Zeus then turned her into a cow to hide her from his wife,
which failed. When Galileo discovered the moon, he named it Jupiter I. Marius named the moon
Io when he first observed it. Over the next 200 years, the scientific community debated what the
moon should be officially called. In 1852, John Herschel suggested that Galileo be recognized
as the discoverer, but Io be used as the name, to acknowledge Marius contributions. Even after
this suggestion, the name was not commonly used until the 1975 when Peter Millman, a
Canadian planetologist, recommended that the scientific community use Herschels
recommendation.
With an average diameter of 3,643 kilometers, Io is slightly larger than Earths moon.
Ios orbit is about 422,000 kilometers from Jupiter. It orbits Jupiter every 1.77 Earth days. Io
always shows one face toward Jupiter, just like Earths moon. Io, Europa, and Ganymede all
have resonant orbit, meaning that their orbits interact with each other. Because Io always faces

Jupiter, the effects of Ganymede and Europa cause Io to wobble slightly. This wobbling causes
tidal waves as high as 100 meters. (Zimmermann).
Io ranks third, based on mass and volume, among the Galilean satellites It is smaller
than Ganymede and Calisto, but larger than Europa Its mass is 8.9319 x 1022 kg and its
volume is 25,319,064,907 km3 (NASA).
Since Io is a moon, it has long been believed that it has no magnetic field. However,
scientists have recently discovered that Io has a large iron core. This iron core may be capable of
generating a magnetic field. Because scientists have recently discovered a hole in Jupiters
magnetic field, there is speculation that Io may have a magnetic field. (Sky).
Also, Io travels through Jupiters magnetic field lines. This creates electric currents of up
to one trillion watts. The magnetic field lines strip away particles from Io, creating a plasma
Taurus, which causes intense radiation.
Ios atmosphere is composed of sulfur dioxide. This sulfur dioxide is one of the elements
that Jupiter strips away and it becomes part of the plasma Taurus.
The interior of Io is composed mostly of iron and iron sulfide with a brown silicate outer
layer. The colors of the exterior contain splotchy orange, yellow, black, red, and white
(Arentt).
Ios average temperature is about 130 K. Its highest temperature is about 2,000 K. The
biggest and most distinctive features of Io are its volcanos. Io is the only object in our solar
system, besides Earth, to have active volcanos. These distinctive features were noted by Galileo
and were confirmed, in 1979, by NASAs Voyager spacecraft. This volcanic activity on Io is
caused by Jupiters massive magnetic pull on its moons. This pull creates waves, similar to the
tidal waves caused on Earth by its moon. The massive eruptions of Ios volcanos eject the

radioactive contents into the atmosphere. It is this material that is absorbed by Jupiter to create a
plasma Taurus.
One of the biggest features on Io is named after the Hawaiian fire god, Pele. This
massive volcano is about 1,000 kilometers in diameter. Another volcano, named after the Greek
titan, Prometheus, was also found by Voyager I. In addition to volcanos, Ios surface also
features mountains and lava flows. The lava flows were long thought to consist of molten sulfur,
however, recent scientific data has led scientists to suspect that they are more likely molten
silicate rock. Compounds of salt have also been found. Ios surface is also dotted with vents that
produce massive amounts of sulfur. (Sky).
The following table provides a comparison of major features of Io and it neighbors:

Object
Io
Ganymede

Mass

Density

8.94 x 10^22
kg
1.48 x 10^23
kg

3.55
gm/cm^3
1.95
gm/cm^3
1.86
gm/cm^3
3.01
gm/cm^3

Axis Tilt

Distance
from
Sun/planet

0.036 degrees

421,600 km

0.195 degrees 1,040,400 km

Calisto

1.08 x 10^23

Europa

4.8 x 10^22
kg

Earths
Moon

7.3477 x
10^22 kg

Earth

5.98 x 10^24
kg

5,515 kg/m^3

23.5 degrees

Jupiter

1.898 x
10^24 kg

1,326 kg/m^3

3.1 degrees

3.344 g/cm^3

0.281 degrees 1,883,000 km

0.470 degrees

670,900 km

6.68 degrees

384,400 km
146 million
km to 152
million km
741 million
km to 817
million km

Orbit Time
1.769138
Earth days
7.16 Earth
days
16.689 Earth
days
3.551181
Earth days
23 Earth
hours 4
minutes
365 Earth
days 5 hours
12 Earth
years

There have been several space missions to pass by Jupiter in inspect its moons. In 1973,
Pioneer 10 flew by Io. In 1974, Pioneer 11 followed. In 1979, Voyager I and Voyager II flew
past Io, with only a timespan of about four months between them. Voyager I took pictures of
hundreds of volcanos. It even managed to catch an eruption with plumes over 300 meters high.
This was the first real proof that other terrestrial bodies were active within our solar system.
During the four months between Voyager I and Voyager II, some volcanos became dormant was
others became active. Even the deposits around the vents physically changed.
Between 1999 and 2002, the Galileo space craft performed six flybys of Io, during its
study of Jupiter and its moons. These flybys provided scientists with high resolution images of
Ios surface. They also confirmed the presence of high-temperature silicate volcanism.
Currently, there are no future plans to visit Io directly. However, the Jupiter Icy Moon
Exploration (JUICY) mission, headed by the European Space Agency, has been scheduled for
launch in 2022, arriving at Jupiter in 2030. While this mission is intended to study Jupiter,
Ganymede, Calisto, and Europa, it is expected to perform some side observations of Io, as well.
(Agency).
In studying about Io, I thought it was interesting that it is the only moon containing active
volcanos. I found this to be of particular interest, since the other major moons of Jupiter are all
icy moons. Io is so hot that it has almost no water. I would like to know why Io is so different
than its sister moons.
I also found it interesting that Io has such a large iron core. I would like to understand
more about how Ios volcanic convection cycle works. Because the iron core occupies so much
of the interior of the moon, it seems like it would be difficult to have such an active convection
cycle. It seems like there wouldnt be enough room for the cycle to be able to fully operate. I

wonder if the entire convection cycle is driven by Jupiters influence on Io or if Io also

participates in the convection cycle, independently.
Id also like to know if the atmosphere really only consists of sulfur dioxide, as my
research indicated. Given the complexity of the environment on Io, I would have expected the
atmosphere to be composed of a variety of elements. I also wonder if the atmosphere was
always composed only of sulfur dioxide or if the atmospheric composition has changed over
time. If it has changed, I wonder if it will continue to change. I also wonder what effect Jupiter
has on that change, if any.
Like everyone, I also wonder about the possibility of Io being able to support life. Since
it is likely that Io once contained water, but that Jupiter has effectively influenced Io to the point
that it no longer has water, I wonder what Io would look like if it wasnt so close to Jupiter. I
wonder if Io would be able to use Jupiter in a similar way as we use the sun, to create heat and
generate light, both essential elements to supporting life.
I think that studying Io provides scientists with great opportunity to understand how a
planet and its satellites interact with each other. I think that scientists should use this opportunity
to help us be able to understand more about how Earth and its moon interacts with each other and
what that relationship might look like, in the future.

Bibliography
Agency, European Space. Selection to the L1 Mission. Informative. Paris: PSWG, 2013. Paper.

Arentt, Bill. Io. 10 Jan 2001. <http://nineplanets.org/io.html>.

Beebe, R. (1994). Jupiter the Giant Planet. Wash. D.C.: Smithsonian Institution.

NASA. Solar System Exploration. 2014.

<http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Jup_Io>.

Sky, Sea and. The Sky. 2013. <http://www.seasky.org/solar-system/jupiter-io.html>.

Zimmermann, Kim. space.com, Io: Facts about Jupiters Volcanic Moon. 03 July 2012. 20 Sept.
2014.