NASA just spotted the wildest volcano ever—on Jupiter's moon Io
NASA's Juno spacecraft caught the most powerful volcanic eruption ever seen on Io, one of Jupiter's moons.
During a close flyby in December 2024, Juno spotted a massive hot spot in Io's southern hemisphere—about the size of Kentucky—that radiated at a power of over 80 trillion watts (that's six times more than all Earth's power plants combined).
How did Juno catch this eruption?
Juno used its infrared mapper (JIRAM) to pick up super-bright heat signals from several hot spots—over 1,000 times brighter than usual—which hints at a system of interconnected magma reservoirs beneath the moon's surface.
Plus, new images showed that parts of Io's surface actually changed color since earlier visits in 2024.
What happens next?
The team plans to re-examine the hot spot during a flyby on March 3, 2026.
Juno also found evidence of cooling lava flows beneath the surface across about 10% of the moon's surface.
NASA plans another close look on March 3, 2026, so there could be even more wild discoveries soon!