Io, Io, It’s Off To Work We Go

Ok, I couldn't resist the pun. NASA researchers think they have unlocked the secrets of Io's atmosphere. That Jovian moon is the most volcanically object in the solar system but scientists have long been puzzled by the sulfur dioxide atmosphere.

Io's volcanoes spew out sulfur dioxide, which is a gas that stinks of freshly lit matches and almost entirely makes up the moon's atmosphere. As Io rotates from daylight into darkness, chilling the yellowish rock down to -226 F (-143 C), the gas freezes into a solid, much like dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide gas).

"The atmosphere at that point collapses down so that all that is left supplying the atmosphere are the volcanoes," Retherford said.

Because Io's volcanic gas stays warm enough not to freeze and creates glowing auroras, scientists were able to find out how much the volcanoes supply Io's atmosphere by measuring the moon's nightside aurora.

About 1 to 3 percent of Io's dayside atmosphere, it turns out, is created by the volcanoes. The rest is generated from frozen sulfur dioxide turning directly into gas which, over eons, has accumulated on Io's surface.

NASA has a really nice gallery of images from Io here. Their Io page is here.