Fact Sheet
Great balls of fire!
Hot lava erupts from Tvashtar Catena, a chain of volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io, in this composite image from the Galileo spacecraft. Sulfur-rich lava from the volcanoes appears yellow and white, while infrared readings show the hottest lava in the bright strip at left. Galileo, which has orbited Jupiter since December 1995, recently won another extension to its mission. It will fly over Io's north and south poles during the next two years, then end its mission by plunging into Jupiter's atmosphere in 2003.
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