Io’s volcanoes produce plumes of sulphur and sulphur oxide which can reach 500 km above the surface of the moon.This makes the satellite the most actively volcanic object in our Solar System. Io has over 400 active volcanoes on the surface of the small moon.Related: – Which planet has the most moons? Geological Facts Io rotates around Jupiter synchronously, keeping one hemisphere pointing toward Jupiter (leading hemisphere) and the other pointing away (trailing hemisphere).The orbital resonance and the tidal forces from Jupiter are the primary heat source of Io’s volcanic activity.Both Europa and Ganymede exert periodic gravitational influence on Io, this is known as orbital resonance.Io orbits Jupiter twice for every one orbit of Europa and four orbits to every one orbit Ganymede completes.Io orbits 421,700 km from Jupiter’s centre.Io is Jupiter’s innermost of Galileon moons and is the fifth natural satellite out from Jupiter.The innermost moon of Jupiter got its name from a mortal woman in Greek mythology who got turned into a cow when Zeus and Hera, King and Queen of the gods, had a marital spat.īefore it was named Io, Galileo named the moon Jupiter I. It was decided this would be best as the numerical system would become very confusing as new moons were being discovered. This system was used until the mid-1800s when the satellites were given their mythological names. He also referred to the moons numerically as I, II, III, and IV. When Galileo first discovered the moons of Jupiter he called them the Medicean planets, after a powerful Italian Medici family. The discovery of the Jovian moons led to the understanding that the planets in our Solar System orbit the Sun, rather than the Universe orbiting the Earth. Io was discovered with three other moons (Europa, Ganymede and Callisto) in 1610 by Galileo Galilei. The moon is named after Io in Greek mythology, a woman who turned into a cow during a dispute between Zeus and Hera. The lava which erupts from its active volcanoes can travel up to 10 miles high (or kilometres). Jupiter’s moon Io is the most active volcanic natural satellite in our Solar System. The pronunciation “EE oh” is also acceptable. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.Io ( “EYE oh” ) is the fifth of Jupiter’s known satellites and the third largest it is the innermost of the Galilean moons. Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.Īnd since curiosity has no age limit - adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. In October 2019, they announced they had newly discovered 20 moons around Saturn. The four large moons Galilei discovered around Jupiter were named Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.Īstronomers continue to find new moons orbiting planets in our solar system. Many of these names came from Greek myths. The newly discovered moons were each given beautiful names to identify them among the growing number of planets and moons astronomers were finding in the solar system. It’s fair to say that other moons are named after our own moon. These objects became known as moons because they were close to their planets, just as our own moon is close to the Earth. Other astronomers across Europe discovered five moons around Saturn during the 1600s. He was a 16th century Italian scientist who is known as the father of modern astronomy. A statue of Galileo Galilei in Florence, Italy.
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