Astronomy:Acala Fluctus

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Short description: Volcano on Io with sporadic activity
Image of Io from the Galileo spacecraft

Acala Fluctus is a volcano with a diameter of 415.36 kilometers located on the moon Io, the most volcanic moon in the solar system orbiting Jupiter.[1] It is the site of sporadic fire fountaining activity with variable high temperatures.[2][3]

History

Low-temperature spots were detected in 1979 by Voyager IRIS. In the late 1990s, the Galileo spacecraft detected a high-temperature hot spot over Acala Fluctus. Then Galileo also detected low-temperature hot spots on Acala Fluctus in the year 2000. Observations from Ground-based Infrared Telescopes showed that Acala Fluctus was active for ~18 months in the years 2019 and 2020. During that time it experienced two outburst with temperatures of ~1200 Kelvin.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Planetary Names". https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/27. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Rathbun, Julie A.; Pettine, Madeline; Milazzo, Moses; Tate, Christian (2024-05-01). "The History of Eruptions at Acala Fluctus, Io: Source of Multiple Outbursts". The Planetary Science Journal 5 (5): 106. doi:10.3847/psj/ad38be. ISSN 2632-3338. Bibcode: 2024PSJ.....5..106R. 
  3. ↑ Tate, Christian D.; Rathbun, Julie A.; Hayes, Alexander G.; Spencer, John R.; Pettine, Madeline (2023-08-15), Discovery of seven volcanic outbursts on Io from an IRTF observation campaign 2016 to 2022