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Planetary science

Sodium at Io

Nature volume 421, pages 30–31 (2003)Cite this article

It has been known for some years that Jupiter's satellite Io has sodium as a component of its atmosphere. The source, it now seems, is sodium chloride emitted by volcanoes on Io's surface.

Io, the innermost of Jupiter's four Galilean satellites, is anomalous in various respects. One curiosity is its atmosphere, and the 'plasma torus' of ionized matter through which the planet orbits. On page 45 of this issue, Lellouch et al.1 describe observations that will help settle thinking about a puzzling constituent of the atmosphere and torus, and its origins.

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Figure 1: Images of Io.

NASA

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Department of Planetary Sciences, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, 85721, Arizona, USA

    Donald M. Hunten

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  1. Donald M. Hunten
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Correspondence to Donald M. Hunten.

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Hunten, D. Sodium at Io. Nature 421, 30–31 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/421030a

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/421030a

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