NASA spacecraft releases crisp images of Jupiter's moon Io

NASA captured in the pictures the stunning beauty of the "volcanic world" of the solar system - Jupiter's moon Io.

NASA's Juno spacecraft flew over Jupiter's moon, approaching to within 51,500 km of its surface, and from there it managed to capture the best photographs of the solar system's most volcanic moon since the New Horizons imagery, which in 2006 photographed the Jupiter system on its way to Pluto. The Juno spacecraft, which has already orbited Jupiter 49 times, is now starting to study this and other satellites of the giant planet.

From this distance one can see the variegated and colorful surface, which is the result of intense volcanic activity, with hundreds of calderas and vents on the surface, creating an unsurpassed landscape. Volcanic pillars and lava flows come in all colors from red and yellow to orange and black, and some lava flows stretch hundreds of kilometers.

The next meeting of Juno with Io will take place on May 16 of the same year at a distance of 35,000 kilometers. A little later, in February 2024, the spacecraft will make a new "pass" over the satellite and photograph it from a distance of only about 1500 km.