Huge Lava Lake Spotted on Moon Orbiting Jupiter

Business Standard ^ | June 7, 2015 | A US radio telescope has captured images of an enormous lava lake on the surface of Io, one of the

[lbryce]

A US radio telescope has captured images of an enormous lava lake on the surface of Io, one of the moons orbiting the planet Jupiter, the Puerto Rico Astronomy Society (PRAS) reported.

"The new images clearly show an enormous lake of lava, fed from the subsoil and which exists permanently," PRAS vice president, professor and scientist Armando Caussade said in a statement.

The Large Binocular Telescope Observatory in Arizona was the one that spotted the mass of lava in the region known as Loki Patera, a volcanic pit measuring approximately 200 kilometers (124 miles) in diameter.

PRAS spokesman Juan Villafañe said the size of the lake "is much larger than any of the five permanent lava lakes that exist on the Earth", since "the ones on our planet only measure some hundreds of meters across".

[SunkenCiv]

any day now.

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/pluto/index

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks lbryce, extra to APoD.

[bobby.223]

“That’s no Moon”.

[lbryce]

Very cleverly done. When I first noticed it, I was a bit apprehensive about posting it wondering about the sort of remarks it might generate. But you managed to bring attention to it with style and grace.

[redfreedom]

Are there fish in it?

[ETL]

Yes, small guppies like these seen here: