Journal ArticleDOI
Io on the eve of the galileo mission
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Io, the innermost of Jupiter's large moons, is one of the most unusual objects in the Solar System as discussed by the authors, which produces a global heat flux 40 times the terrestrial value, producing intense volcanic activity and a global resurfacing rate averaging perhaps 1 cm yr−1.Abstract:
▪ Abstract Io, innermost of Jupiter's large moons, is one of the most unusual objects in the Solar System. Tidal heating of the interior produces a global heat flux 40 times the terrestrial value, producing intense volcanic activity and a global resurfacing rate averaging perhaps 1 cm yr−1. The volcanoes may erupt mostly silicate lavas, but the uppermost surface is dominated by sulfur compounds including SO2 frost. The volcanoes and frost support a thin, patchy SO2 atmosphere with peak pressure near 10−8 bars. Self-sustaining bombardment of the surface and atmosphere by Io-derived plasma trapped in Jupiter's magnetosphere causes escape of material from Io (predominantly sulfur, oxygen, and sodium atoms, ions, and molecules) at a rate of about 103 kg s−1. The resulting Jupiter-encircling torus of ionized sulfur and oxygen dominates the Jovian magnetosphere and, together with an extended cloud of neutral sodium, is readily observable from Earth.read more
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Journal ArticleDOI
Vegetation's red edge: a possible spectroscopic biosignature of extraterrestrial plants.
TL;DR: This work presents Earthshine observations from Apache Point Observatory to emphasize that time variability is key to detecting weak surface biosignatures such as the vegetation red edge, and implies that future terrestrial-planet-characterizing space missions should obtain data that allow time-varying, sharp spectral features at unknown wavelengths to be identified.
Journal ArticleDOI
The sub-Alfvénic interaction of the Galilean satellites with the Jovian magnetosphere
TL;DR: In this article, it was shown that the sub-Alfvenic, low-beta interaction can be described by an anisotropic conducting atmosphere joined to an Alfven wing as one extreme case and the Jovian ionosphere as the other extreme case.
Journal ArticleDOI
Active Volcanism on Io as Seen by Galileo SSI
Alfred S. McEwen,Laszlo P. Keszthelyi,Paul Geissler,Damon P. Simonelli,Michael H. Carr,Torrence V. Johnson,Kenneth P. Klaasen,H. Herbert Breneman,Todd J. Jones,James M. Kaufman,K. Magee,David A. Senske,M. J. S. Belton,Gerald Schubert +13 more
TL;DR: Io has been monitored during the nominal Galileo satellite tour from mid 1996 through late 1997 by the Solid State Imaging (SSI) experiment, which was able to observe many manifestations of active volcanism, including changes in the color and albedo of the surface, active airborne plumes, and glowing vents seen in eclipse as discussed by the authors.
BookDOI
Comparative Climatology of Terrestrial Planets
TL;DR: The Comparative Climatology of Terrestrial Planets (CCP) as discussed by the authors is a collection of more than sixty leading experts in the field that sets forth the foundations for this emerging new science and brings the reader to the forefront of our current understanding of atmospheric formation and climate evolution.
Journal ArticleDOI
Near-Infrared Spectroscopy and Spectral Mapping of Jupiter and the Galilean Satellites: Results from Galileo's Initial Orbit
Robert W. Carlson,William D. Smythe,Kevin H. Baines,E. Barbinis,Kris J. Becker,R. Burns,S. B. Calcutt,Wendy M. Calvin,Roger N. Clark,G. E. Danielson,A. G. Davies,Pierre Drossart,T. Encrenaz,Fraser P. Fanale,J. Granahan,Gary B. Hansen,P. Herrera,Charles A. Hibbitts,J. Hui,Patrick G. J. Irwin,Torrence V. Johnson,L. W. Kamp,Hugh H. Kieffer,F. Leader,Emmanuel Lellouch,R. Lopes-Gautier,Dennis L. Matson,Thomas B. McCord,R. Mehlman,Adriana C. Ocampo,Glenn S. Orton,M. Roos-Serote,M. Segura,James H. Shirley,L. A. Soderblom,A. Stevenson,Fredric W. Taylor,J. Torson,Alex A. S. Weir,Paul R. Weissman +39 more
TL;DR: Spectra for a 5-micrometer hot spot on Jupiter are consistent with the absence of a significant water cloud above 8 bars and with a depletion of water compared to that predicted for solar composition, corroborating results from the Galileo probe.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Possible in situ detection of K2+ in the Jovian magnetosphere
TL;DR: For example, during the Voyager 1 and 2 encounters with Jupiter in 1979, the positive ion composition of the cold thermal plasma in the Jovian plasma sheet and cold Io torus could be obtained when the plasma Mach number in the spacecraft rest frame was sufficiently large.
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Stability of the Io Torus
T. S. Huang,George L. Siscoe +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the inherent stability of the coupled neutral-plasma Io torus was investigated under the assumptions that the neutrals arise through sputtering by corotating torus ions, and that the ions move radially by centrifugally driven diffusion.
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A Hubble Space Telescope study of posteclipse brightening and albedo changes on Io
James J. Secosky,Michael Potter +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, images of Io taken by the HST Planetary Camera (PC) using filters at 7120 and 3577 A in April and May 1992 shortly after Io emerged from Jupiter's shadow have been analyzed for the effect of posteclipse brightening first report by Binder and Cruikshank (1964).
Journal ArticleDOI
Search for temperature-related albedo changes in nightside and posteclipse images of Io
TL;DR: Using an image-summing process that increases the visibility of Jupiterlit surface features in Voyager images, the best-ever violet-filter image of the nightside of Io and the bestever nightside/dayside brightness ratio map of this jovian moon were produced by as mentioned in this paper.