NASA spacecraft captures photograph of the most volcanic world in the solar system

NASA's Juno mission has made a close fly-by of the most volcanically active body in the solar system, Jupiter's fifth moon called IO.

NASA spacecraft captures photograph of the most volcanic world in the solar system
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NASA's Juno spacecraft has captured a stunning image of the most volcanic body in the solar system, a moon of the largest planet in our solar system - Jupiter.

The Juno spacecraft passed Jupiter's fifth moon, named IO, on October 15 and, during its fly-by, snapped an incredible shot that displays the scorched surface of the body. The surface of IO is covered in volcanic activity, with the red spots in the above photo representing lakes of molten silicate lava.

These patches of molten lava are spread across the entire moon, as the moon has hundreds of volcanos that are consistently erupting and flowing more lava out onto the barren landscape. For reference, IO is approximately the same size as our moon, with estimates putting it only just a little bit bigger. Notably, Jupiter has 92 moons, and IO is the fourth largest moon in the solar system and also the innermost moon orbiting Jupiter.

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