Empire of the Sun: Planets and Moons of the Solar System

  • John Gribbin &
  • Simon Goodwin

Io, the innermost of the four moons orbiting Jupiter, sports active volcanoes on its surface. It orbits so close to its parent planet that the tidal pull of Jupiter squeezes the moon rhythmically, generating heat in its interior which drives the volcanic activity. The image shown here was obtained by the Galileo space probe, and is one of many examples of space imagery to be found in Empire of the Sun: Planets and Moons of the Solar System by John Gribbin and Simon Goodwin (Constable, £15.99).