Resolving Io's Volcanoes from a Mutual Event Observation at the Large Binocular Telescope

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution observations from the Large Binocular Telescope during a mutual event to map and analyze active volcanic regions on Io, revealing multiple emission sites and their evolution.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed emission maps of three volcanic centers on Io during a mutual event, resolving multiple emitting regions previously unresolved.

Findings

Resolved multiple emission regions at Io's volcanoes.

Detected localized eruptions consistent with prior activity.

Identified new spatial details of volcanic emissions.

Abstract

Unraveling the geological processes ongoing at Io's numerous sites of active volcanism requires high spatial resolution to, for example, measure the areal coverage of lava flows or identify the presence of multiple emitting regions within a single volcanic center. In de Kleer et al. (2017) we described observations with the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) during an occultation of Io by Europa at ~6:17 UT on 2015 March 08, and presented a map of the temperature distribution within Loki Patera derived from these data. Here we present emission maps of three other volcanic centers derived from the same observation: Pillan Patera, Kurdalagon Patera, and the vicinity of Ulgen Patera/PV59/N Lerna Regio. The emission is localized by the light curves and resolved into multiple distinct emitting regions in two of the cases. Both Pillan and Kurdalagon Paterae had undergone eruptions in the months prior to our observations, and the location and intensity of the emission is interpreted in the context of the temporal evolution of these eruptions observed from other facilities. The emission from Kurdalagon Patera is resolved into two distinct emitting regions separated by only a few degrees in latitude that were unresolved by Keck observations from the same month.