Tvashtar Paterae
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Tvashtar Paterae is a volcanic region of Jupiter's moon Io located near the moon's north pole. It is a series of paterae, or volcanic craters. It is named after Tvashtar, the Hindu god of blacksmiths. [1]
Tvashtar was studied by the Galileo spacecraft over several years. During this time, a 25km long, 1 to 2 km high curtain of lava was seen to erupt from one patera, a lake of superheated silicate lava erupted in the largest patera, and finally a plume of gas burst out, rising 385 km above the moon and blanketing areas as far away as 700 km.[2]
An eruption on Tvashtar on February 26, 2007 was photographed by the New Horizons probe as it went past Jupiter en route to Pluto. The probe observed an enormous 290-kilometer (180-mile) high plume from the volcano, with an as-yet unexplained filamentary structure made clearly visible by the background light from the sun[3]
[edit] References
- ^ US Geological Planetary Nomenclature. Retrieved on July 20, 2006.
- ^ University of Arizona Planetary Image Research Laboratory May 28, 2002 Report on Tvashtar Paterae. Retrieved on July 20, 2006.
- ^ Mission Photos: An Eruption on Io (New Horizons) Retrieved on February 28, 2007.
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