(abstract) Modeling Ground-Based and Galileo Observations of Volcanism on Io

Abstract

Io is the most volcanically active body in the solar system. Presently the Galileo spacecraft is orbiting Jupiter and carrying out an Io volcano watch. The NIMS (Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer) instrument on board will yield both compositional and thermal data of volcanic units on Io, and will hopefully answer some long-standing questions as to the nature of volcanism on Io.