Planetary Science Seminar

  Tidal heating is a major driver of geological activity on   rocky bodies in the Solar System, and may play an important role in many   exoplanets. On Io, the effects of tidal heating are clearly observable   in the form of large-scale volcanism, making it an ideal laboratory for   studying this process. I will present an ongoing observing campaign   aimed at understanding Io's volcanic activity, including its connection   to the atmosphere and to tidal heat dissipation. In 2013-2016 we   observed Io on 100+ nights with adaptive optics on the Keck and Gemini N   telescopes, making hundreds of detections of thermal emission from   individual active volcanic sites. Observations of bright outburst   eruptions indicate extreme effusion rates, while the spatial   distribution of activity during this period reveals significant   asymmetries and deviates from current tidal heating model predictions.   Ground-based programs of this nature are complementary to spacecraft   missions; I will discuss how these observations, in combination with   results from the EXCEED and Juno missions, can provide insight into the   impact of Io's volcanism on the jovian plasma system.