These images of Telegonus Mensa on Jupiter's moon Io were acquired by NASA's Galileo spacecraft during a close flyby on 16 October, 2002. Four small, high-resolution frames (9.6 meters, or 32 feet, per picture element) have been set into the larger context mosaic, which has a resolution of 42 meters (140 feet) per picture element. The illumination is from the upper right and North is to the top of the mosaic, which reveals a complex interplay of geologic processes.
A fracture runs northwest from the lower right corner of the mosaic into the amphitheater in the center of the frame. A high-resolution image along this fracture reveals that lava has erupted from it.
The amphitheater itself has been the site of extensive erosion, as the cliff has slumped southeastward under the influence of Io's gravity. High-resolution frames directly to the south of the amphitheater show another slumping cliff face in great detail. The flat tops of massive slump blocks (up to 6 kilometers, 3.7 miles, long and 0.5 kilometers, 0.3 miles, across) are illuminated by the sun and cast shadows down the face of the cliff. Based on these shadows, Galileo scientists estimate that the cliff is 1-2 kilometers (3300-6600 feet) high. Just to the left of center a series of landslides can be seen, the longest of which extends four kilometers (2.5 miles).
The mosaic is centered at 51 S latitude and 118 W longitude and is 67 kilometers (42 miles) across.
Image produced by: Moses Milazzo, Planetary Image Research Lab. (PIRL), Lunar and Planetary Lab. (LPL), University of Arizona
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. Additional information about Galileo and its discoveries is available on the Galileo mission home page at http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov/. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov/images/io/ioimages.html.
NASA's Planetary Photojournal PIA-03528
May 28, 2002