Questions tagged [io]
For questions regarding Io, one of the four moons of Jupiter discovered by Galileo.
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Can you distinguish a transit from an eclipse when observing Galilean moons?
If I look at Jupiter through a small telescope (or binoculars) while Io is overlapping Jupiter, is it possible for me to visually distinguish a transit from an occultation?
For example, maybe there's ...
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How can Io be tidally heated while it is in tidal lock?
According to its Wikipedia page:
Rotation period: synchronous
Eccentricity: 0.0041
But also
...extreme geologic activity is the result of tidal heating...
How is it possible? It should not be ...
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Surface height distribution for Jupiter's moon Io?
The moon Io has around 100 mountains:
These structures average $6 {\rm\, km}$ in height and reach a maximum of ${\rm 17.5 \pm 1.5\, km}$
I am now looking for the overall histogram, i.e. elevation ...
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How much lighter would someone be on the Jupiter-facing side of Io?
Io is the Galilean moon closest to Jupiter. Its average surface gravity is 0.183g and it has a tidal lock with Jupiter. So if you stood on the near side of Io at the equator, how much lighter would ...
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Has the computed change of the axial tilt ever been measured?
Earth, the 3rd planet from the Sun, sometimes faces earthquakes and seaquakes that are so strong that they reportedly change the axial tilt and/or the rotation velocity. These changes are merely ...
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Is or might there be lightning on Io?
As far as we know, Jupiter's moon Io has the most volcanic activity of any known celestial body. It has the most volcanoes that are active and they're erupting frequently. On Earth (the third planet ...
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Why don't the inner moons of Jupiter have tidally-induced volcanism?
Volcanism on Io is caused by the fact that it is tidally heated. There are four moons that are closer to Jupiter than Io with higher eccentricities, yet they don't seem to have any volcanism at their ...
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How does Io's atmosphere behave locally near volcanic plumes?
Io's surface air pressure is about $0.3 {\rm mPa}$ but Io's atmosphere is strongly variable, depending on whether it's on the near side or far side of Io (relative to Jupiter) and it collapses at ...
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Why does Io cast a hard shadow on Jupiter, but the Moon casts a soft shadow on Earth?
Io (source):
The Moon (source):
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How strong are the strongest Ioquakes?
Jupiter's moon Io is the most geologically active celestial body in our system. It has the strongest volcanoes and quakes. Of course in practice these quakes wouldn't be as dangerous as on Earth for ...
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Why is Io's volcanism chemically so different from Earth's?
Volcanic gases on Earth are mainly water, carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide, but on Io there is a notable absence of water and carbon dioxide in volcanic gases, since sulfur dioxide is the dominant ...
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Did Io start out as an icemoon?
Looking at the big moons of the outer solar system a clear pattern can be seen. Thick icey surface layers covering rocky mantles and deep down metallic cores. The only outlier is Io as it has no icey, ...
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How can tidal heating lower Io's orbit?
This answer to the question Is Io a magic energy machine? suggests that the energy from the internal heating of Io due to tidal "squishing" as it moves cyclically closer and farther from Jupiter in ...
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Is Io a magic energy machine?
Io gets its volcanic heat from being flexed by Jupiter's gravity, and this seems to go on forever. That sounds like a magic energy source, since Jovian gravity is perpetual and Io seems to remain in ...