Where In The Universe Challenge #154

By Nancy Atkinson - October 19, 2011 at 4:56 PM UTC | Extragalactic
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It's time for another Where In The Universe Challenge! This WITU was submitted by UT reader David Schumaker. Name where in the Universe this image was taken and give yourself extra points if you can name the telescope or spacecraft responsible for the image. Post your guesses in the comments section, and check back on later at this same post to find the answer. To make this challenge fun for everyone, please don't include links or extensive explanations with your answer. Good luck!

UPDATE: The answer has now been posted below.

This is a closeup of a volcano named Ra Patera on Jupiter's moon Io, taken by one of the Voyager spacecraft in 1979. Voyager 1 made a spectacular and unexpected discovery that Io, the innermost Galilean moon of Jupiter, was covered with volcanoes and some of them were erupting! Voyager 1 observed nine volcanic eruptions during its encounter with the moon, and four months later, when Voyager 2 flew past, it was able to confirm that at least six of them were still erupting.

See more about this image on APOD.

Many thanks to David Schumaker for suggesting this image for WITU! Submit any ideas you have for future WITUs to

Nancy.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com