Explanation:
Spewed from
a volcano,
a complex plume rises over
300 kilometers above the horizon of Jupiter's moon Io
in this image from cameras onboard the
New Horizons
spacecraft.
The volcano,
Tvashtar, is marked by the bright
glow (about 1 o'clock)
at the moon's edge, beyond the terminator or night/day shadow line.
The shadow of Io cuts across the plume itself.
Also capturing stunning details on the dayside surface, the
high resolution image was recorded when the
spacecraft was 2.3 million kilometers from Io.
Later it was combined with lower resolution
color data
by astro-imager Sean Walker to produce this
sharp portrait of the solar system's
most active moon.
Outward bound at almost 23 kilometers per second,
the New Horizons spacecraft should cross the orbit of Saturn in
June next year, and is ultimately
destined to encounter
Pluto in 2015.
