25.0 The Solar System

Earth is not the only active planetary body in the solar system. Io, one of Jupiter’s moons, is home to fantastic volcanic eruptions. Volcanism is much hotter than on Earth. Lava curtains and fountains are common. In this color image, the Galileo spacecraft spotted two volcanic plumes. One is spewing high above the planet on the horizon. The second is near he boundary between day and night. Besides being hotter than Earth’s volcanism, eruptions on Io have a different composition. They are mostly sulfur!