The most volcanic place in the whole solar system. Jupiter's pull kneads Io like a ball of dough, and that squeezing is what keeps it hot enough to erupt. It is about the size of our own Moon.
Most volcanically active body in the solar system, squeezed and heated by Jupiter's gravity.
Moon: Orbits a planet rather than the star. Every kind of thing there is →
Its position moves, so there is no fixed place on a map to point at. The Planetarium works out where it is for your own place and date.
Binoculars find it, especially braced against a wall or a fence — it stays a point of light, but now you know which point.
A tiny point right beside its bright planet — steady the telescope and wait.
Io is about the same size as our Moon. In weight, about 1/67th of Earth. Io keeps one face turned towards Jupiter, so from that side Jupiter hangs in one place and never moves — a striped wall about forty times as wide as our Moon looks to us.
| Across | 3 643 km |
|---|---|
| Distance from the planet it orbits | 421 700 km |
| Once round its orbit | 42.5 hours |
| One spin | 42.5 hours |
| Made of, among other things | sulfur, rock (basalt) |
Nobody flew a tape measure out there. Every number on this page was worked out from the ground:
Clear tonight? The Planetarium will show you what is worth a look. Then just go out.