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Douglas Isbell

Headquarters, Washington, DC
July 18, 1996
(Phone: 202/358-1753)

Mary Beth Murrill


Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
(Phone: 818/354-5011)

RELEASE: 96-143

GALILEO FINDS BIG CHANGES ON JUPITER'S VOLCANIC MOON


IO

A new image of Jupiter's volcanically active moon Io


returned by NASA's Galileo spacecraft shows that significant
changes have occurred on the moon since Io was observed 17
years ago by the exploratory NASA spacecraft Voyagers 1 and
2.

"The changes we are seeing on Io are dramatic," said


Galileo camera team leader Dr. Michael J.S. Belton of the
National Optical Astronomical Observatories in Tucson, AZ.
Io's landscape undergoes constant change due to numerous
sulfur volcanoes that continually erupt across its mottled
orange and white face, he said. "The colors of material on
the ground and their distribution have changed substantially
since the Voyager flybys of 1979," Belton said.

One of the most striking changes noted in the image


are new deposits of sulfur and sulfur dioxide frost deposited
from the volcano Masubi in Io's southern hemisphere. "The
sulfur dioxide gas that drives the volcano makes a big plume,
condenses, then paints the surface white," Belton said.
Masubi was discovered as an active volcano during the Voyager
encounters of Io.

Galileo's first color image of Io [pronounced "EYE-


oh"or "EE-oh"] was taken June 25 at a range of 1.4 million
miles during the spacecraft's approach to Jupiter's largest
moon, Ganymede. The smallest features that can be discerned
in the new image of Io are approximately 14 miles in size, a
resolution comparable to the best Voyager images of the same
face of Io.

-more-

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Galileo promises to return new views of volcanic


activity on Io throughout the spacecraft's remaining 17-month
mission orbiting Jupiter. Higher resolution images of Io
will be taken in coming months.

Launched in October 1989, Galileo entered orbit


around Jupiter on December 7, 1995. The spacecraft's mission
is to conduct detailed studies of the giant planet, its
largest moons and the Jovian magnetic environment. The Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, manages the mission for
NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC.

The Io image and other imagery and data received from


Galileo will be posted to the World Wide Web, on the Galileo
mission home page at URL:

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo

-end-

NOTE TO EDITORS: Media representatives interested in


obtaining the Io photo that accompanies this release should
fax their request on company letterhead to the NASA Imaging
Branch at 202/358-4333.

Color: 96-HC-466

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