NASA's Juno data points to new volcano on Jupiter moon Io
Washington, July 14 : Using data collected by NASA's Juno spacecraft, scientists have got clues to a previously undiscovered volcano on the Jupiter moon Io.
With its Jovian InfraRed Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument, the Juno spacecraft found a new heat source close to the south pole of Io, NASA said on Saturday.
"The new Io hotspot JIRAM picked up is about 300 kilometres from the nearest previously mapped hotspot," Alessandro Mura, a Juno co-investigator from the National Institute for Astrophysics in Rome, Italy, said in a statement.
"We are not ruling out movement or modification of a previously discovered hot spot, but it is difficult to imagine one could travel such a distance and still be considered the same feature," Mura added.
The infrared data were collected on December 16, 2017, when Juno was about 470,000 kilometers away from the moon.
The Juno team will continue to evaluate data collected on the December 16 flyby, as well as JIRAM data that will be collected during future (and even closer) flybys of Io, NASA said.
Past NASA missions of exploration that have visited the Jovian system (Voyagers 1 and 2, Galileo, Cassini and New Horizons), along with ground-based observations, have located over 150 active volcanoes on Io so far.
Scientists estimate that about another 250 or so are waiting to be discovered.
Juno has logged nearly 235 million kilometres since entering Jupiter's orbit on July 4, 2016.
Juno's 13th science pass will be on July 16, the US space agency said.
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'Warm and engaging atmosphere reigned', Shashi Tharoor on Putin banquet
New Delhi (PTI): Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who on Friday attended a banquet for Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, on Saturday described the atmosphere there as "warm" and "engaging", and said he enjoyed his conversations with many of the attendees.
Tharoo’s remarks came a day after President Droupadi Murmu hosted a banquet for the visiting Russian president at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.
“Attended the @rashtrapatibhvn banquet for President Putin last night. A warm and engaging atmosphere reigned. Enjoyed my conversations with many of the attendees, especially my dining companions from the Russian delegation!" Tharoor said in a social media post.
Murmu, while welcoming President Putin and his delegation at the banquet, had said that his visit marked an important milestone -- the 25th anniversary of the India-Russia strategic partnership, which was established in October 2000 during his first visit to the country as president.
Murmu also appreciated Putin's support and personal commitment to the India-Russia special and privileged strategic partnership.
The Congress on Friday said that the leaders of the opposition, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, were not invited to the banquet, and took a swipe at Tharoor for accepting the invite.
The party’s media and publicity department head, Pawan Khera, accused the government of breaking protocols daily and not believing in democratic principles.
“There is no invite to both the LoPs, Mr (Mallikarjun) Kharge and Mr (Rahul) Gandhi. This comes as a surprise, but I don't think we should be surprised. This government is known to be breaching all protocols. What else to say, ask the government,” Khera said on Friday.
Asked about Tharoor accepting the invite for the banquet, Khera said, "Ask Mr Tharoor. All of us who are in the party, if our leaders don't get invited and we get invited, we need to question our own conscience and listen to our conscience. Politics has been played in inviting or not inviting people, which in itself is questionable, and those who accept such an invite are also questionable."
“We would have listened to our voice of conscience,” he added.
Earlier, Tharoor had said that there was a time when the chairman of the external affairs committee was routinely invited, but that practice seems to have stopped some years ago.
On Thursday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that the government tells visiting foreign dignitaries not to meet the leader of opposition due to its "insecurity".
His remarks came hours ahead of Putin's two-day visit to India.
