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NASA Releases High Resolution Images of Io and Europa

By Keith Cowing
May 5, 2000
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Io close upNASA JPL released new high resolution imagery today taken by the Galileo spacecraft of Io and Europa. These images portray intricate features of Io’s volcanic terrain including lava flows, terraces, and pits. The image collection also includes a high-resolution view of Europa’s Jupiter-facing hemisphere. According to NASA “variations in surface materials that may indicate the presence of sulfuric acid (common battery acid) and salty minerals, possibly from a subsurface ocean.”

° NASA Press release

° Images and captions: Europa: Sea Salts or Battery Acid?;   Highest resolution of lava flows on Io;   Terrain near Io’s south pole

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