Tuesday —ＴＵＧ ｏｆ Ｗ▲Ｒ — Tidal Flexing and Tidal Heating
Video Credit: NASA's Eyes
Io's volcanism, is due to gravitational tension from companion moons Europa and Ganymede, and causes Io’s orbit to become elliptical and elongates the moon. The orbital resonance from Europa and Ganymede routinely tug Io in one direction while the gravitational claws of Jupiter yanks Io in the other direction.
Image Credit: NASA's Eyes
Io takes the full brunt of this "Tug of War" as it struggles to find a synchronistic relationship with its celestial companions. This constant "tug and pull" creates violent scenes of scorched terrains, magma lakes, lava seas and hundreds of erupting volcanoes — all typical events in a day.
Image Credit: Ron Miller
Io is the solar system's most extreme example of what scientists call "runaway tidal heating" and contributes to the constant torturing of Io's terrain creating realms of lava 🅑🅛🅞🅞🅓 soaked plains.
MOONS SYMPHONY ASTRONAUT
Explore the world of Io with its lava lakes, magma seas and hundreds of erupting volcanoes
The discovery of volcanism on Io ushered in a new dawn of thinking about habitable worlds, known as the Goldilocks zone. Not too hot, not too cold, just right. This traditional model was mainly Earth-centric, and one beautiful example is the cosmic address of our Planet Earth.
However, since the discovery of Io, a NEW Goldilocks zone emerged, demonstrating that worlds beyond the asteroid belt, no longer require solar energy to fuel their dynamic natures, but instead exceptional geological processes could now power and contribute to their fascinating evolving worlds.
Author Amanda Lee Falkenberg - THE MOONS SYMPHONY® 2022