A 628 million kilometers from Earth, Io, the third largest moon of Jupiter, remains in perpetual eruption. Its surface, shaped by extreme tidal forces, hosts hundreds of active volcanoes that constantly redefine its landscape.
A team led by Joel Sánchez Bermúdez from the Institute of Astronomy at UNAM has managed to identify seven active volcanoes and reveal unprecedented details of their structures.
Why is Io so volcanic?
The gravitational pull of Jupiter and its moons generates internal heat that fuels volcanic activity.
- Tidal heating: Io is stretched and compressed by the gravity of Jupiter, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto
- Extreme activity: The internal heat causes constant eruptions of silicate lava, sulfur, and sulfur dioxide
- Constant changes: The surface is continuously transformed, requiring high-resolution instruments for its study
Bowl-shaped active volcanoes: a distinct geology
Unlike Earth’s volcanoes, those on Io are depressions with central lava.
The study allowed the team to map seven volcanic structures and detect potential sulfur dioxide deposits, thanks to observations made with the James Webb Space Telescope and a novel image processing technique.
Space interferometry: a pioneering technique in the James Webb
Aperture masking was used to enhance image resolution.
For the first time, aperture masking interferometry (AMI) was applied in a space telescope. This technique involves partially covering the primary mirror of the James Webb with a mask of aluminum with seven holes, turning each into a small telescope. The interference pattern generated allows doubling the resolution and observing with greater clarity.
“It is the first time an object in the Solar System has been observed with this technique,” explained Sánchez Bermúdez in a statement.
Artificial intelligence to clean and reconstruct images
Neural networks allow overcoming the limitations of classical algorithms
Faced with the initial low quality of the images, Sánchez and his team developed a new AI-based processing method, training neural networks with synthetic models of Io. The network cleans the images layer by layer until it reconstructs precise details of the volcanoes and their surroundings.
A precedent for planetary exploration
The study opens new avenues to understand the dynamics of celestial bodies and improve astronomical analysis.
The combination of space interferometry and artificial intelligence marks a milestone in astronomical observation, with future applications in the study of other bodies in the Solar System and in the development of new scientific data analysis tools.
