We’ve been underestimating the volcanic power of Jupiter’s moon Io by about ten times.
March 24, 2026
Original Paper
Lava Lakes on Io: crust age and implications for thermal output
arXiv · 2603.22062
The Takeaway
New data from the Juno spacecraft reveals that the 'cool' crusts of Io's lava lakes actually pump out significantly more heat than the bright, glowing rings of lava that scientists previously focused on. This discovery suggests that the most volcanically active body in our solar system is losing internal energy much faster than we ever realized.
From the abstract
Recent observations by the JIRAM instrument onboard NASA's Juno mission have confirmed that many of Io's volcanic hot spots are active lava lakes, characterized by a colder central crust surrounded by a hotter peripheral ring. In this study, we investigate the thermal properties of thirty such lava lakes, providing new constraints on their structure and energy budget. We find that most of the total power from Io's lava lakes comes from their low-temperature crusts rather than the hotter peripher