Museum of Science and Industry

Pop quiz! What body in the solar system has the most volcanic activity? If you said Planet Hollywood, you would be incorrect. But if you guessed Io, Jupiter's closest moon, you're a geophysical genius!

Over the last six years, the U.S. Geological Survey has studied the landscape of Io (pronounced EYE-oh) through satellite pictures and has now released the above map of Io's geologic surface. They identified 425 volcanoes. Wow!

Scientists will use this information to better understand how the moon's terrain forms and fluctuates. While this is a fairly recent image, NASA will still have to update it with observations from a telescope, due to constantly changing conditions.

And, as always, if you'd like to learn more about Io, come see our program "No Place Like Home" in the Earth Revealed exhibit.

Colorful Map Details Volcano-Studded Surface of Io [WIRED]

Image: USGS