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A Journey to the End of Time

The Solar System in 3D, in real time

A simulation of the Solar System driven by real ephemerides. The Sun, the planets, Pluto and the major moons, space probes, the International Space Station, nearby stars and the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way are where they really are at the chosen moment. You can run time from 1700 to 2100, fly from one object to another and look at the sky from anywhere on Earth.

Io

Moon of Jupiter

Facts

Mean diameter
3643 km, a little more than the Moon
Mean distance from the planet
421,800 km
Orbital period
1.77 days
Discovery
Galileo Galilei, 1610

Io is the innermost of Jupiter's four large moons and the most volcanically active body in the Solar System, with hundreds of volcanoes: some throw up fountains of lava tens of kilometres high.

It is stretched in a tug of war between Jupiter's enormous gravity and the smaller but regular pulls of Europa and Ganymede.

Sources