Io
The most volcanically active body in the Solar System.
Io is the innermost of Jupiter's four Galilean moons, slightly larger than Earth's Moon. With more than 400 active volcanoes it is the most geologically active object in the Solar System, heated by tidal flexing from Jupiter, Europa and Ganymede.
It is mostly silicate rock around an iron core, and its plains are frosted with sulfur and sulfur dioxide.
Quick Facts
- Discoverer
- Galileo Galilei
- Discovered
- 8 January 1610
- Adjectives
- Ionian aɪ
- ˈ
- oʊ
- n
- i
- ə
- n
- Inclination
- 0.05° (to Jupiter's equator); 2.213° (to the ecliptic)
- Satellite of
- Jupiter
- Dimensions
- 3,660.0 × 3,637.4 × 3,630.6 km / 2,256 mi
- Moment of inertia factor
- 0.37824, 0.00022
- Escape velocity
- 2,558 m/s
More in Celestial Bodies & Worlds
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