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Volcanic
Eruptions Seen on Io While in Eclipse
These
views of Jupiter's moon Io in the eclipse of the large planet's
shadow are color coded so that blue to yellow to red represents
increasing brightness. The bright spots indicate the locations of
volcanic vents on lo, which are spewing hot lava. This image and
other data from NASA's Galileo spacecraft indicate that the lava
at Pillan Patera (the brightest spot) exceeded 1,700 degrees Kelvin
(2,600 degrees Fahrenheit) and may have reached 2,000 degrees Kelvin
(3,140 degrees Fahrenheit). The hottest eruptions on Earth today
reach temperatures of about 1,500 Kelvin (2,240 degrees Fahrenheit),
but hotter lava erupted billions of years ago.
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