feed your eye on the volcano - covered surface of Io , the innermost of Jupiter ’s four Galilean moonshine .
We ’ve been flick photo ’s of Io ’s stunning surface features for decades , but only recently did the US Geological Survey team up with NASA to make a detailed “ global ” picture of the moon ; what you see here is the intersection of that quislingism — the first geologic map of the solar system ’s most geologically alive aim .
You might think this map — which was published on Mondayby the USGS — look similar toothers that you ’ve seen , but there are a number of things that set it apart . For instance , unlike other planetary geological maps , Io ’s surface features were characterized using four separate global image mosaics , combining the very right image gather up from NASA ’s Voyager delegacy with those from the Galileo orbiter . All told , this map assembles datum collect over the span of almost a quarter 100 . [ Hi res version available here ]
https://gizmodo.com/beautiful-astrogeological-maps-reveal-the-moons-mysteri-5866790
Of course , the duration of time over which the world-wide mosaics were collected presented the USGS with a significant challenge . Because Io is so geologically active , there were many instances where Earth’s surface features had alter from one mosaic to the next . “ Conveying information from multiple epitome mosaic in a individual map , ” explained research geologist Ken Tanaka in a USGS pressure sack , “ require the exercise of unique and completing map symbols , colors , and characteristic names . ”
This figure [ a PDF of which is available here ] , which help oneself sort out the meaning behind all the colors and shapes that you see on the function , gives you an idea of just how complex and punctilious this cognitive process must have been .
Something else that might storm you about this mapping is that none of the shapes and colors you see have been used to depict impact crater . Unlikethese geological maps of the far side of the Moon , this single-valued function of Io confirm something peculiar about the surface of Jupiter ’s moonshine that uranologist have known for year : it has no impingement craters . With over 400 active volcanos covering its aerofoil , the moon is constantly being resurfaced and reshaped , not by extraterrestrial object , but by its own rapidly acting geological bodily function .
you’re able to learn more about Io and the late , highly detailed analytic thinking of its surface inthis tract , which was prepared byt the USGS to keep company the map . [ USGS ]
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