Data collected by NASA’s Juno spacecraft using its Jovian InfraRed Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument point to a new heat source close to the south pole of Io that could indicate a previously undiscovered volcano on the small moon of Jupiter. The infrared data were collected on Dec. 16, 2017, when Juno was about 290,000 miles (470,000 kilometers) away from the moon.

“The new Io hotspot JIRAM picked up is about 200 miles (300 kilometers) from the nearest previously mapped hotspot,” said Alessandro Mura, a Juno co-investigator from the National Institute for Astrophysics in Rome. “We are not ruling out movement or modification of a previously discovered hot spot, but it is difficult to imagine one could travel such a distance and still be considered the same feature.”

The Juno team will continue to evaluate data collected on the Dec. 16 flyby, as well as JIRAM data that will be collected during future (and even closer) flybys of Io. Past NASA missions of exploration that have visited the Jovian system (Voyagers 1 and 2, Galileo, Cassini and New Horizons), along with ground-based observations, have located over 150 active volcanoes on Io so far. Scientists estimate that about another 250 or so are waiting to be discovered.

Juno has logged nearly 146 million miles (235 million kilometers) since entering Jupiter’s orbit on July 4, 2016. Juno’s 13th science pass will be on July 16.

Juno launched on Aug. 5, 2011, from Cape Canaveral, Florida. During its mission of exploration, Juno soars low over the planet’s cloud tops — as close as about 2,100 miles (3,400 kilometers). During these flybys, Juno is probing beneath the obscuring cloud cover of Jupiter and studying its auroras to learn more about the planet’s origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere.

JPL manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott Bolton, of Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. The Juno mission is part of the New Frontiers Program managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the Science Mission Directorate. The Italian Space Agency (ASI), contributed two instruments, a Ka-band frequency translator (KaT) and the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM). Lockheed Martin Space, Denver, built the spacecraft. JPL is a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California. </s> NASA has now apparently found the indication of another volcano in the South pole of Jupiter's moon Io by using data collected from Juno spacecraft.

NASA made use of the Jovian InfraRed Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) and discovered a new heat source close to the south pole of Io, and experts believe that it could be one extra volcano that was never documented before.

"The new Io hotspot JIRAM picked up is about 200 miles (300 kilometres) from the nearest previously mapped hotspot. We are not ruling out movement or modification of a previously discovered hot spot, but it is difficult to imagine one could travel such a distance and still be considered the same feature," said Alessandro Mura, a Juno co-investigator from the National Institute for Astrophysics, Rome, Phys.org reports.

NASA has previously revealed that Io is one of the most volcanically active cosmic bodies in the solar system. The space agency has mapped more than 150 active volcanoes on the surface of Io, and many of them are continuously erupting lava fountains up to 250 miles high. Scientists at NASA believe that there could be more than 250 volcanoes which are waiting to be discovered in the Jovian moon.

Juno spacecraft made a close flyby to Io on December 16, 2017, and it was during this close approach that NASA initially came to know about the mysterious heat source which was never documented before. NASA, on June 13, 2018, uncovered a new photo of Io, and indicated the position of the newly discovered hotspot.

NASA, on their website, revealed that the Juno team will continue evaluating the data collected on the December 16 flyby.

The Juno mission was launched on August 05, 2011, from Cape Canaveral, Florida. As NASA has now decided to extend the lifespan of Juno mission until July 2021 more close flybys can be expected in the coming months.
Another satellite of Jupiter is announced, S/2017 J 1, just 3 days after the announcement of S/2016 J 1.