NASA’s Galileo probe revealed new secrets about Io, the fairly restless moon of Jupiter.

Io has the most intensive volcanic activity in our solar system, and according to a new analysis, this can be attributed to the vast magma ocean lying under the surface of the moon. Scientists compare the surface of Io to a freshly baked pizza. At 1/40 of Earth’s size, Io produces a hundred times more lava each year than all of the volcanoes on Earth combined.

Besides Earth, Io is the only planet in our solar system where volcanic magmaeruptions can be detected. Scientists have pointed out that both Io and the Earth – just after their formation – went through phases when their surface was covered by a magma ocean. For life to begin on our planet the freezing of this magma ocean was needed. Io might represent a model to study the early Earth, and the active volcanic processes.

The Galileo probe was launched by NASA in 1989 and began operating around Jupiter in 1995. Although various mishaps happened to the probe during its mission, it has significantly increased our knowledge about Jupiter and its moons. Since the end of the mission in 2003, new results still surface by analyzing the data collected by the satellite.