In March and April 2025, internet users shared a striking image that they claimed showed "Steeple Mountain," a massive point ...

And it has observed some dramatic features there ... our instruments recorded of the lake suggests parts of Io’s surface are as smooth as glass, reminiscent of volcanically created obsidian ...

Io is an incredibly active and extreme place, with glistening lava lakes and volcanic eruptions shooting sulfur and magma to ...

Consequently, Io's distinctive properties have preserved its surface materials in a relatively pristine state. Collecting samples from Io thus offers an unparalleled opportunity to probe early ...

"These energized electrons then interact with Io's atmosphere and surface, ionizing and exciting atoms and molecules and even creating aurora." In the 1990s, NASA's Galileo mission discovered the ...

Io’s lava lakes sit within caldera-like features with steep or even vertical ... The findings also shed light on how magma moves beneath Io’s surface and feeds these lakes.