Stuff Happining on Io

A team of SETI astronomers have provided it's possible to see volcanic eruptions on Io a moon of Jupiter from our perch on Earth hundreds of millions of miles away. Based on 44 nights of telescope observations, the group from the SETI Institute's Carl Sagan Center showed it is possible to see fiery volcanoes spewing on Io (which is also known as Jupiter's "Pizza Moon" for that reason). They can see features as small as 62 miles (100 kilometers) across using a particular telescope technique. This means we don't necessarily need a spacecraft to watch over Io's volcanoes. That's an important finding considering there won't be another long-term mission at Jupiter until the 2030s, said SETI's Franck Marchis, who led the team. "We are not going to have a (Jupiter) space mission for several years," said Marchis, the senior planetary astronomer of the Carl Sagan Center. Amazing Photos: Jupiter's Volcanic Moon Io. "If we want to continue to invest time in observing volcanic activity, we need to focus on ground-based telescopes. It's not a community that has been used to it ... our goal is really to motivate them to think about it." Marchis and his team used a technique called adaptive optics. It's a technology that helps smooth out blurs that conventional telescopes see when trying to take pictures through the turbulent atmosphere of Earth. A telescope, fitted with a distortable mirror, is hooked up to the adaptive optics system. As the light bends in the atmosphere, a sensor measures the distortions with the assistance of a computer, which makes calculations.The best systems today can make 1,000 calculations per seconsd, Marchis said, and that figure is improving all the time. As the number of calculations increases, so does the accuracy. It makes the image look sharper. In Marchis' case, it allowed his team to track the Tvashtar volcano's eruption in 2006-7 at the same time as the New Horizons spacecraft saw it. (New Horizons is en route to Pluto and will arrive in 2015.) Io isn't the only astronomical target that benefits from adaptive optics. The system has also been used to find planets around distant stars, to image cracks on Europa, and to give a more precise look at Jupiter's atmosphere. I think it is cool that they found activity happening on Io. And it does look like a pizza a pepperoni pizza to be specific. On the other hand I had no idea that Io had stuff happening on it it's pretty cool that it does because someday Io might explode who knows. And I also dont think it wasnt a good idea not to have a jupiter space muission they might have found a little bit of life who knows what they would have found. I would also hate to be on Io with the valconos acting up. Anyways I hope they fid more stuff happining on Io cause if they do I will probibly be writing a blog about it. Io is an amazing moon and I hope it doe something more soon.