title: Simple Minds

text: By 1988, the band had built their own recording premises — the Bonnie Wee Studio — in Scotland. Following the lengthy period of touring to support "Once Upon a Time", Simple Minds began new writing sessions. Initially the band began work on an instrumental project called "Aurora Borealis" (mostly written by Burchill and MacNeil). This project was then supplanted by an increase in the band's political activism, something which they had begun to stress in recent years (by giving all of the income from the "Ghostdancing" single to Amnesty International, and playing cover versions of Little Steven's "(Ain't Gonna Play) Sun City" on tour), inspired by Peter Gabriel with whom they had toured in the early 1980s.


title: Simple Minds

text: Simple Minds were the first band to sign up for Mandela Day, a concert held at Wembley Stadium, London, as an expression of solidarity with the then-imprisoned Nelson Mandela. Bands involved were asked to produce a song especially for the event – Simple Minds were the only act which produced one. This was "Mandela Day", which the band played live on the day (alongside cover versions of "Sun City" with Little Steven and a cover version of Peter Gabriel's "Biko" on which Gabriel himself took on lead vocals). "Mandela Day" was released on the "Ballad of the Streets" EP, which reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart (the only time the band did so). Another EP track, "Belfast Child", was a rewrite of the Celtic folk song "She Moved Through the Fair" (which had been introduced to Kerr by John Giblin) with new lyrics written about the ongoing war in Northern Ireland). The single was also an expression by Simple Minds of their support for the campaign for the release of Beirut-held hostage Brian Keenan, kidnapped by the Islamic Jihad.


title: Simple Minds

text: The next album "Street Fighting Years" (produced by Trevor Horn and Stephen Lipson) moved away from the American soul and gospel influences of "Once Upon a Time" in favour of soundtrack atmospherics and a new incorporation of acoustic and folk music-related ingredients. The lyrics were also more directly political, covering topics including the Poll Tax, the Soweto townships, the Berlin Wall and the stationing of nuclear submarines on the Scottish coast. The band underwent further line-up changes during the recording of "Street Fighting Years". Mel Gaynor and John Giblin both contributed to the recording (and, in Giblin's case, to some of the writing) but both had left the band by the time of the album's release, by which time the band was credited as a trio of Kerr, Burchill and MacNeil. In a new development for the band, various bass guitar and drum tracks were performed by high-profile session musicians. Gaynor's departure from the band was brief (he was rehired for the following tour).


title: Simple Minds

text: Released in 1989, the album rose to No. 1 in the UK charts and received a rare five-star review from "Q" magazine. It received a less positive review in "Rolling Stone" which criticised the band for what the reviewer considered to be political vacuity. "This Is Your Land" was chosen as the lead single for the U.S., and even with guest vocals from Lou Reed, the single failed to make a mark on the pop charts. Reunited with Mel Gaynor, Simple Minds hired Malcolm Foster (ex-Pretenders) as the new bass player and expanded the live band again by recruiting three additional touring members – Level 42 backing singer Annie McCaig, percussionist Andy Duncan and violinist Lisa Germano). Touring began in May 1989, and included the first and only time that the group headlined Wembley Stadium, where they were supported by fellow Scottish bands The Silencers, Texas and Gun. In September, the concert in the Roman amphitheatre Verona Arena in Italy was recorded for the live video "Verona", released by Virgin in 1990.


title: Simple Minds

text: At the end of the Street Fighting Years tour, Simple Minds laid plans to go to Amsterdam to begin recording a new album. Just before the end of the tour, keyboardist Michael MacNeil announced to the band that he would not be joining them as he needed a break. MacNeil played his last concert with Simple Minds in Brisbane a week later. At the time, MacNeil's departure was put down to health concerns, but he had been gradually suffering disillusionment with the band's lifestyle and touring schedule (as well as what Kerr has referred to as "a number of animated quarrels".)


title: Simple Minds

text: At around the same time, long-term manager Bruce Findlay was dismissed and over the next few years the band gradually altered to the point where it was a shifting set of musicians around the only remaining core members, Kerr and Burchill. In December 2009, Kerr retrospectively defended the changes in an online diary entry, although he said that MacNeil's departure had been a "colossal fracture". He also paid tribute to his former bandmate and said that MacNeil had been irreplaceable. Simple Minds continued to record, hiring keyboard players as and where required. The first of these was session keyboard player Peter-John Vettese who played live with the band at the Nelson Mandela Freedom Concert and on a short German tour. He was subsequently replaced in the live band by Mark Taylor.


title: Simple Minds

text: In 1991, Simple Minds returned with "Real Life". The album's cover showed a trio of Kerr, Burchill and Gaynor and the writing credits for all songs was Kerr/Burchill. The album reached No. 2 in the UK, where it also spawned four Top 40 singles. In the US, "See the Lights" was the band's last Top 40 pop single. The band toured to support the release, playing as a basic five-piece (Kerr, Burchill, Gaynor, Foster and Taylor) and cutting down on the extended arrangements of the last few large tours. Mel Gaynor left the band in 1992 to pursue session work and other projects, and for the next two years Simple Minds were on hiatus, releasing the compilation album "Glittering Prize" in 1992.


title: Simple Minds

text: Simple Minds returned to activity later in 1994. By now the band was officially a duo of Kerr and Burchill (with the latter taking on keyboards in the studio, as well as guitar). Hiring Keith Forsey (the writer of "Don't You (Forget About Me)") as producer, they began to put together an album which returned to the uplifting arena rock feel of their "Once Upon a Time" days. With Gaynor now out of the picture, the remaining instrumentation was covered by session musicians (although Malcolm Foster was included among the bass players used for recording).


title: Simple Minds

text: "Good News from the Next World" was released in 1995. The album reached No. 2 in the UK and produced the Top 10 hit "She's a River" and the Top 20 single "Hypnotised". The band toured to promote "Good News from the Next World", with Malcolm Foster and Mark Taylor as touring bass and keyboard players and Mark Schulman (who had played on the album) on drums. This was Foster's last work with the band, and Schulman returned to session work at the end of the tour. After being released from their contract with Virgin Records, Simple Minds made use of the skills of their original rhythm section, Derek Forbes and Brian McGee (returning after respective eleven- and fourteen-year absences). Although McGee was not involved beyond the rehearsal stage, Forbes formally rejoined Simple Minds in July 1996. The band then reunited with Mel Gaynor for a studio session in early 1997. Gaynor was reinstated as a full-time member for the European tour (which once again featured Mark Taylor on keyboards).


title: Simple Minds

text: After the tour, album recording sessions were interrupted by Kerr and Burchill's decision to play live (without Forbes, Taylor or Gaynor) as part of the Proms tour (a series of orchestral concerts featuring a mixture of light classical and pop music). The duo played versions of "Alive And Kicking", "Belfast Child" and "Don't You (Forget About Me)" backed by a full orchestra and were billed as Simple Minds.


title: Simple Minds

text: The new album, "Néapolis" featured Forbes playing bass guitar on all tracks, and Gaynor on one song, "War Babies". Other drum tracks were recorded by session players Michael Niggs and Jim McDermott, with additional percussion programming by Transglobal Underground/Furniture drummer Hamilton Lee. It was the only Simple Minds album released by Chrysalis Records, who refused to release the album in the U.S., citing lack of interest. The music video for "Glitterball", the album's lead single, was the first production of any kind to film at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. A European tour followed between March and July 1998, undermined by problems with ill-health and contractual fiascos (including a pull-out from the Fleadh Festival to be replaced by British rock band James).


title: Simple Minds

text: As Simple Minds' main writing team, Kerr and Burchill had continued to demo and originate material by themselves. For the latest sessions they had shared studio space with a band called Sly Silver Sly who featured Jim Kerr's brother Mark (previously the drummer with Gun) and bass guitarist Eddie Duffy, and who were working with American songwriter Kevin Hunter. While in the studio, the two writing and recording projects (including the Hunter co-writes) merged to become the sessions for the next Simple Minds album, "". Once again, Forbes and Gaynor found themselves out of the band: Mark Kerr became the new drummer and Eddie Duffy joined on bass guitar. The new-look Simple Minds made their début with a short set of greatest hits at the Scotland Rocks For Kosovo festival, with Mark Taylor returning on keyboards. The displaced Forbes and Gaynor, having apparently been told that the band was not appearing at the festival, formed a new band of their own to play the same concert.


title: Simple Minds

text: Having delivered "" to Chrysalis, Simple Minds then found themselves caught up in record company politics while Chrysalis, EMI and other companies attempted to merge with each other. Originally due for release in late 1999, the album remained unreleased after the band mired themselves in lawsuits with Chrysalis. In 2000, the situation became even more complicated when "Our Secrets Are the Same" was leaked on the internet. Discouraged with their label's failure to resolve the problems, and with both momentum and potential album sales lost, the band once again went on hiatus. Eddie Duffy, Mark Taylor and Mark Kerr all moved on to other projects. Jim Kerr moved to Sicily and took up a part-time career as a hotelier, although both he and Burchill continued working together on various business interests and kept the idea of the band alive.


title: Simple Minds

text: In 2001, Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill began working with multi-instrumentalist Gordon Goudie (ex-Primevals) on a new Simple Minds album to be called "Cry". Mark Kerr also contributed to the project (this time as an acoustic guitarist and Burchill's co-writer on several songs) while Kerr brought in various Italian musicians as collaborators, including Planet Funk and Punk Investigation. In parallel to "Cry", Simple Minds also recorded an album of covers called "Neon Lights", featuring Simple Minds versions of songs from artists including Patti Smith, Roxy Music and Kraftwerk. "Neon Lights" was the first to be completed and released (later in 2001). In the video for the "Neon Lights" single "Dancing Barefoot", the band consisted of Jim Kerr, Charlie Burchill, Gordon Goudie and Mark Kerr. A 2-CD compilation, "The Best of Simple Minds", was released soon afterwards.


title: Simple Minds

text: "Cry" was released in April 2002. Although the album did not sell in great numbers in the U.S., Simple Minds felt confident enough to mount a North American leg of their "Floating World Tour" (named after the instrumental track which closes "Cry"), their first in seven years. With Goudie opting to remain studio bound (and Mark Kerr leaving the band again), Simple Minds once again recruited Mel Gaynor as tour drummer. The live band was completed by the returning Eddie Duffy on bass guitar and by new keyboard player/programmer Andy Gillespie (of SoundControl).


title: Simple Minds

text: On 28 October 2003, Capitol released "Seen The Lights – A Visual History", the first-ever Simple Minds commercial (double) DVD, featuring over four hours and twenty minutes of archive footage. The first disc includes the majority of the band's promotional videos. The second disc is devoted to "Verona", the band's first video which was originally released in VHS format in 1990. It was upmixed to 5.1 surround sound for the DVD, but otherwise remains the same as the original VHS copy.


title: Simple Minds

text: On 18 October 2004, Simple Minds released a five-CD compilation entitled "Silver Box". This mostly comprised previously-unreleased demos, radio and TV sessions and live recordings from 1979 to 1995, but also included the long-delayed "". In July 2005, the band embarked on the "Intimate Tour", a series of low-key European and UK gigs at smaller venues which ended in December 2005. Andy Gillespie was unable to appear at all the gigs, and Mark Taylor returned to cover for him on several occasions. From this point onwards, the two alternated as Simple Minds' live keyboard player, depending on Gillespie's schedule with his other projects.


title: Simple Minds

text: With the Kerr/Burchill/Duffy/Gaynor lineup, Simple Minds released "Black & White 050505" (their fourteenth studio album), on 12 September 2005. The album's first single, "Home", received airplay on alternative rock radio stations in the US. It reached No. 37 in the UK and was not released in North America. The band spent 2006 touring throughout Europe, the Far East, Australia and New Zealand on the Black And White Tour (with Mark Taylor on keyboards).


title: Simple Minds

text: 2007 marked the band's 30th anniversary and saw the band embarked on a brief tour of Australia and New Zealand as guests of INXS. The band continued to release audio and video download "bundles" through their official website, featuring live music and several short documentary-style videos recorded during their 2006 tour in Edinburgh and Brussels (including the complete show on 16 February 2006 at the Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, Belgium as "Live Bundles" No. 1 to No. 5 and 6 tracks from the show on 28 August 2006 at the "T on the Fringe" music festival, Edinburgh, as "Live Bundles" No. 6 & No. 7).


title: Simple Minds

text: On 27 June 2008, Simple Minds played the 90th birthday tribute to Nelson Mandela in London's Hyde Park. The band then undertook a short tour of the UK to celebrate their 30th anniversary. During these concerts, the band performed the entire "New Gold Dream (81–82–83–84)" album and songs from their other albums in a two-part concert performance. Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill also played a number of concerts with Night of the Proms across Europe in spring, followed by further shows in late 2008.


title: Simple Minds

text: In June 2008, Kerr and Burchill briefly reunited with the full original band lineup for the first time in twenty-seven years, when meetings with Derek Forbes, Mick MacNeil and Brian McGee led to a studio rehearsal date. However, the reunion rapidly foundered over disagreements regarding control of the band and equal status for all members.


title: Simple Minds

text: Reverting to the Kerr/Burchill/Duffy/Gaynor lineup, Simple Minds released a new studio album entitled "Graffiti Soul" on 25 May 2009. On the November/December "Graffiti Soul UK Tour" they were supported by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark as special guests. A new record label, W14/Universal label, had purchased the Sanctuary label in early 2009. Former Sanctuary Records A&R head John Williams (who had signed the band to Sanctuary) kept his position with the new label, and exercised the option to pick up the remaining Simple Minds albums owed as part of the previous deal.


title: Simple Minds

text: In May 2009, "Graffiti Soul"s first single, "Rockets", was released as a digital download single only. On 31 May 2009, the album entered the UK Album chart at No. 10, becoming Simple Minds' first album in 14 years to enter the UK Top 10. The album also entered European Top 100 Album chart at No. 9.


title: Simple Minds

text: Interspersed with Simple Minds activity, Jim Kerr recorded and released his first solo album "Lostboy! AKA Jim Kerr" on 17 May 2010 under the name "Lostboy! AKA". Explaining the project name and ethos, he commented "I didn't want to start a new band. I like my band ...and I didn't want a point blank Jim Kerr solo album either." A Lostboy! AKA 10-date European tour followed from 18 to 31 May 2010.


title: Simple Minds

text: The band played a mini-concert on 2 October 2010 at the Cash For Kids Ball organised by Radio Clyde at the Hilton in Glasgow, and a full-length concert on 10 December 2010 at the Festhalle in Bern.


title: Simple Minds

text: In early October 2010, a new line-up of Simple Minds - Burchill, Kerr, Gaynor, Gillespie with new bassist Ged Grimes (ex-Danny Wilson and Deacon Blue) - completed four weeks at the Sphere Recording Studios in London during which four songs were recorded and mixed for a new compilation album to be called "Greatest Hits +" and for the new Simple Minds studio album. The sessions were produced by Andy Wright and engineered and mixed by Gavin Goldberg. The four songs recorded were an eight-minute-long version of "In Every Heaven" (originally recorded in 1982 during the "New Gold Dream" sessions) and three new compositions: "Stagefright" and "On The Rooftop" both written by Charlie Burchill and Jim Kerr and "Broken Glass Park" originally a Lostboy! AKA song written by Jim Kerr and Owen Parker. From 10 June to 3 July 2011, Simple Minds embarked on the "Greatest Hits Forest Tour", playing a series of seven dates in woodland locations of England, as part of Forestry Commission Live Music.


title: Simple Minds

text: From 16 June to 28 August 2011, the "Greatest Hits +" tour visited European countries: the UK, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Ireland, Gibraltar and Serbia mainly at summer festival venues. Simple Minds played several free concerts (on 4 July 2011 in Potsdam, Germany, on 4 July 2011 in Florence, Italy for the opening of Florence's Hard Rock Cafe, on 18 August in Belgrade, Serbia before 110,000 people and on 27 August in Bad Harzburg, Germany before 25,000 people). To coincide with the 2012 "5X5 Live" European tour, EMI Music released on 20 February 2012 the "X5" box set featuring the first five albums over six discs: "Life in a Day", "Real to Real Cacophony", "Empires and Dance", "Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call" and "New Gold Dream (81–82–83–84)" (with "Sons and Fascination" and "Sister Feelings Call" as separate discs in a gatefold sleeve as well as bonus material on each disc, including B-sides and remixes).


title: Simple Minds

text: After a gig on 30 March 2012 at the Døgnvill Festival in Tromsø, Norway, the band embarked on 23 June 2012 in Vienna, on a 25-date tour of European summer festivals which ended on 22 September 2012 in Germersheim, Germany. In July they played at the T in the Park festival.


title: Simple Minds

text: On 21 April Virgin Records released the band's first record ever to be released exclusively for Record Store Day 2012. The 12" single contained two remixes, "Theme For Great Cities" remixed by Moby on side A and the 2012 remix of "I Travel" remixed by John Leckie (who produced the original version of the song in 1980) on side B. The 12" was limited to 1,000 copies worldwide, of which 100 copies were sold in Sister Ray Records in London, where Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill took part in a record-signing session. EMI released on 19 November 2012 a double live album of the tour entitled "5X5 Live".


title: Simple Minds

text: Simple Minds embarked in late 2012 on an eight-date Australia and New Zealand joint tour with American band Devo and Australian band The Church starting on 29 November 2012 in Melbourne, and ending on 15 December 2012 in Auckland (the only show played in New Zealand).


title: Simple Minds

text: On 25 March 2013 a new greatest-hits two- and three-disc collection entitled "Celebrate: The Greatest Hits +" was released on Virgin Records, including two new tracks, "Blood Diamonds" "Broken Glass Park"; the three-disc version also includes "Stagefright", a track which has never been available in CD format before, and unreleased single mixes of "Jeweller to the Stars" and "Space". The North American version of the album contains only one disc. It was followed by a 30-date "Greatest Hits +" UK Tour, which began with a concert in Dublin on 25 March and ended in Ipswich on 4 May 2013.


title: Simple Minds

text: In October 2013 they toured their "Greatest Hits +" Live Tour in Brazil, United States and Canada, followed by concerts in South Africa, Europe and the UK in November, including four arena shows in Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham and London, with guests Ultravox at all four concerts.


title: Simple Minds

text: In November 2014 Simple Minds released their first studio album in five years entitled "Big Music", which was followed by a Winter/Spring 2015 UK and European tour (from February to May 2015).


title: Simple Minds

text: On 22 October 2014, Simple Minds were presented the "Q" Inspiration to Music award by Manic Street Preachers frontman James Dean Bradfield and saw the first public outing of new member Catherine AD as part of the lineup. On 2 November 2014, Simple Minds introduced "Big Music" with a special acoustic session for Radio Clyde's The Billy Sloan Collection. Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill co-hosted the show, choosing some of their favourite records – including Jet Boy by The New York Dolls, The Velvet Underground's Sweet Jane and The Model by Kraftwerk – and playing acoustic versions of songs from "Big Music", including "Honest Town" and "Let The Day Begin" and David Bowie cover "The Man Who Sold the World".


title: Simple Minds

text: In December 2014, Simple Minds recorded an acoustic session at Absolute Radio including live unplugged performances of "Honest Town", "Alive & Kicking", "Let The Day Begin", "Don't You (Forget about Me)" and David Bowie cover "The Man Who Sold the World". The band continued to tour throughout 2015. On 14 November 2015, the band self-released a 29-track double-CD live album entitled "Live – Big Music Tour 2015". It was recorded during the 2015 "Big Music" live tour and contained a cross-section of the Simple Minds back catalogue.


title: Simple Minds

text: On 7 April 2016, Simple Minds performed their first unplugged gig at the Zermatt Unplugged Festival in Zermatt, Switzerland, followed by a second unplugged show in Zürich on 29 October 2016, also at the Zermatt Unplugged Festival. This was the first concert to feature a secondary acoustic live-and-recording line-up of Simple Minds, with Jim Kerr and Sarah Brown on vocals, Burchill on acoustic guitar and accordion, Ged Grimes on bass, Gordy Goudie returning on acoustic guitar and harmonica and new recruit Cherisse Osei on percussion. In May 2016, they were given an Ivor Novello award where Kerr noted that: "we just wanted to be in a great band and take it round the world. We’re very fortunate because we get recognition".


title: Simple Minds

text: In October 2016, the band embarked on a promotional tour of the acoustic material, including a live concert on 10 November 2016 at the Hackney Empire, London that was broadcast on BBC Radio 2. Simple Minds released "Acoustic" which was recorded with the new line-up during Summer 2016 and which featured acoustic re-recordings of songs spanning their career. On the lead single, 1982's "Promised You A Miracle", the band were joined by fellow Scot KT Tunstall. The two-disc vinyl version of the album was released on 25 November 2016, including three extra tracks: "Stand By Love", "Speed Your Love To Me" and "Light Travels". In Spring 2017 they embarked on a two-month (47-date) "Acoustic Live '17" UK & European tour.


title: Simple Minds

text: On 16 November 2016, Simple Minds were given the Forth Best Performance Award at the Radio Forth awards ceremony in Edinburgh.


title: Simple Minds

text: Since September 2014, Simple Minds had been working on new material with the electric Kerr/Burchill/Grimes/Gaynor line-up (minus Andy Gillespie), including the songs "Fireball" and "A Silent Kiss".


title: Simple Minds

text: On 15 November 2017, the new album title and track listing leaked on Amazon UK. Entitled "Walk Between Worlds", the album features eight tracks while the Deluxe edition includes three bonus tracks (one live and two studio tracks). On 20 November 2017, a 20-second promo video was released on the band's Facebook page, promoting the album. The video featured a snippet of "Magic", the lead single, as performed by the six-person "Acoustic" line-up (now including Catherine AD. Produced by Simple Minds, Wright and Goldberg, "Walk Between Worlds" was released on 2 February 2018 via BMG and entered at #4 - their highest UK album chart position in over 23 years - and #2 on the Scottish albums charts, the album's highest chart position in all.


title: Simple Minds

text: In Spring and Summer 2018, the band extensively toured Europe as part of the Walk Between Worlds tour, promoting the new album. Having performed on three tracks on the album, Cherisse Osei now became the band's full-time drummer, replacing Mel Gaynor; Catherine AD also joined the live band on additional guitar, vocals and keyboards. The band notably performed "Walk Between Worlds" in its entirety during the eight Spring concerts that occurred from 13 February at the Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow, UK to 22 February 2018 in Berlin, Germany. After a unique show in Mexico City on 20 September 2018, the band extensively toured North America (now minus Catherine AD) from 24 September in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania up to 11 November 2018 in Orlando, Florida as part of the Walk Between Worlds tour.


title: Simple Minds

text: In 2019, Simple Minds released "Live in the City of Angels", their new live album capturing the band on their biggest ever (2018) North American tour. Mostly recorded on 24 October 2018 at the Orpheum Theatre, Los Angeles, California (i.e. the City of Angels), the live album was made available on multiple formats. The standard CD and vinyl format feature 25 songs while the Deluxe CD and digital formats feature 40 songs. The album title can be seen as a reference or a nod to their milestone first (1987) live album "Live in the City of Light" which was (mostly) recorded in Paris, France (i.e. the City of Light). The 40-song collection is spanning, to date, a 40-year career.


title: Simple Minds

text: In 2019, Simple Minds also released a new compilation album entitled "40: The Best Of 1979-2019", a comprehensive overview of 40 years of the band's recording career that includes a new track: "For One Night Only", a cover of King Creosote's 2014 song.


title: Simple Minds

text: The first Europe & UK (Winter–Spring) leg of the "40 Years Of Hits" World Tour 2020 kicked off on 28 February 2020 in Stavanger, Norway but was interrupted with the cancellation of the show due to take place on 11 March 2020 in Herning, Denmark and the cancellation of the rest of the tour due to the coronavirus pandemic. The tour was rescheduled to 2022 with over 80 dates across more than 20 countries in spring/summer 2022.


title: Simple Minds

text: On 17 January 2022, Simple Minds released the single "Act of Love" to mark the anniversary of the band's very first performance on 17 January 1978 at Glasgow's Satellite City. "Act of Love" is synonymous with the beginning of the Simple Minds story as it was the first song they played at their first show.


title: Simple Minds

text: On 14 June 2022, Simple Minds announced the release on 21 October 2022 of their studio album "Direction of the Heart" via BMG. The very same day, they released the lead single "Vision Thing" for free. Most of the new album's tracks were written, created and demoed in Sicily (where both Jim Kerr and guitarist Charlie Burchill live). Unable to come to the UK because of COVID-19 quarantine rules, Simple Minds recorded the album at Hamburg's Chameleon Studios. On 9 July 2022, Simple Minds released a lyric video for "Vision Thing" on YouTube.


title: Simple Minds

text: The release dates are the original ones and the formats mentioned are the most recent versions officially available (not necessarily the original release formats).


title: Bryce Harper

text: Bryce Aron Max Harper (born October 16, 1992) is an American professional baseball right fielder and designated hitter for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). Prior to his arrival in Philadelphia, Harper played for the Washington Nationals from 2012 through 2018.


title: Bryce Harper

text: One of the most heavily touted draft players in recent history, Harper has been cited as a "five-tool player." He graduated from high school early so that he could attend the College of Southern Nevada, where he won the 2010 Golden Spikes Award. The Nationals selected Harper as the first overall pick in the 2010 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut with the Nationals on April 28, 2012, at 19 years old. Harper was selected for the 2012 All-Star Game, becoming the youngest position player to play in an All-Star Game.


title: Bryce Harper

text: Harper won the National League (NL) Rookie of the Year Award in 2012 and tied for the NL lead in home runs in 2015. He was named the NL Most Valuable Player for 2015 by unanimous decision of the Baseball Writers' Association of America; at age 22, he became the youngest MLB baseball player to win the award. As a free agent during the 2018–19 offseason, he signed a 13-year, $330 million contract with the Phillies, the richest contract in the history of North American sports at the time, until being eclipsed shortly after by Mike Trout. He won his second NL MVP award in 2021 with the Phillies. The next season, he helped lead the Phillies to their first postseason appearance in 11 years, and was instrumental in helping the team win its first pennant since 2009, winning the NLCS MVP in the process.


title: Bryce Harper

text: Harper attended Las Vegas High School in Las Vegas, Nevada. In May 2009, "Sports Illustrated" featured Harper in a cover story, comparing him with LeBron James by similarly calling him his sport's "Chosen One". He earned his GED in October 2009 in his junior year, making him eligible earlier for the Major League Baseball (MLB) draft in June 2010.


title: Bryce Harper

text: For the 2010 college season, 17-year-old Harper enrolled at the College of Southern Nevada of the Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC) in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), where he was a catcher. His older brother Bryan, who had been his teammate at Las Vegas High School, was one of the Southern Nevada Coyotes' starting pitchers, and the brothers often worked as a battery. An advantage for Harper in his eventual transition to his MLB career was that the SWAC, like MLB, uses wooden bats in conference play. In 66 games, he hit 31 home runs with 98 RBIs, hitting .443 with a .526 OBP, and a .987 SLG. Harper's 31 home runs in 2010 broke the school's previous record of 12, and he was named the 2010 SWAC Player of the Year.


title: Bryce Harper

text: In the Western district finals of the 2010 NJCAA World Series, Harper went 6-for-7 with five RBIs and hit for the cycle. The next day, in a doubleheader, he went 2-for-5 with a three-run double in the first game. In the second game, he went 6-for-6 with four home runs, a triple, and a double.


title: Bryce Harper

text: On June 2 that year, Harper was ejected from a National Junior College World Series game by home plate umpire Don Gilmore for disputing a called third strike. Harper drew a line in the dirt with his bat as he left the plate, presumably to show where he thought the pitch was. It was Harper's second ejection of the year and resulted in a two-game suspension. The suspension ended his amateur career, and Southern Nevada lost the game from which Harper was ejected. With Harper suspended, the team also lost their next game, which eliminated them from the tournament. Harper won the 2010 Golden Spikes Award, given to the best amateur baseball player in the nation.


title: Bryce Harper

text: The Washington Nationals chose Harper with the first overall selection of the 2010 Major League Baseball draft. Although Harper had previously and predominantly played catcher, the Nationals drafted him as an outfielder to extend his career and to accelerate his player development so that he could debut in MLB earlier.


title: Bryce Harper

text: At the signing deadline, Harper and the Nationals agreed to a five-year contract worth $9.9 million, including a $6.25 million signing bonus and eight semesters of college tuition. When asked about the signing, Nationals President Stan Kasten said, "The truth is, with a full minute to go, Mike and I both thought we were not going to have a deal." Asked what changed in that final minute, Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo replied, "It was both sides compromising and knowing that we were so close, it would be fruitless not to get a deal done." On August 26, 2010, Harper was introduced by the Nationals. He said he chose to wear No. 34 because "I always loved Mickey Mantle, three and four equals seven."


title: Bryce Harper

text: After batting .319 with a .407 OBP (and leading his team in hits, home runs, RBIs, and walks) in the Nationals' fall instructional league, Harper was selected to participate in the Arizona Fall League (AFL) as a member of the Scottsdale Scorpions taxi-squad, the second-youngest player in the history of the league (two days older than when Mets' prospect Fernando Martínez appeared in the league in 2006). He batted .343 and slugged .729. On November 20, Harper and the Scottsdale Scorpions won the 2010 AFL Championship.


title: Bryce Harper

text: After batting .399 in spring training, Harper began his minor league career when the Nationals optioned him to the Hagerstown Suns of the Class-A South Atlantic League. In April 2011, after a slow start in the minor leagues, Harper visited optometrist Dr. Keith Smithson, who reportedly told him, "I don't know how you ever hit before. You have some of the worst eyes I've ever seen." In his first 20 games after receiving contact lenses, Harper hit .480, collecting seven home runs, 10 doubles and 23 RBIs.


title: Bryce Harper

text: Harper was selected to represent the United States in the 2011 All-Star Futures Game during the 2011 All-Star Game weekend. He was promoted to the Harrisburg Senators of the Class AA Eastern League on July 4. Harper went 2-for-3 in his AA debut with two singles, a run, and a walk.


title: Bryce Harper

text: On August 18, 2011, Harper injured his hamstring while running from second to third on an extra-base hit. The injury was severe enough for him to be carried off the field by his coaches. He was placed on the seven-day disabled list and the injury ended Harper's season. Harper began the 2012 season with the Syracuse Chiefs of the Class AAA International League.


title: Bryce Harper

text: The Nationals promoted Harper to the major leagues on April 27, 2012, after Ryan Zimmerman was placed on the disabled list. He made his MLB debut with the Nationals the next day against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Harper grounded out to pitcher Chad Billingsley in his first major league at-bat. He recorded his first major league hit, a double, in his third at-bat against Billingsley and got his first RBI on a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth against Javy Guerra.


title: Bryce Harper

text: After being hit by a pitch by Cole Hamels in the first inning of a game against the Phillies on May 6, Harper eventually advanced to third, then stole home plate, becoming the first teenager to steal home plate since 1964. Hamels later admitted that he intentionally hit Harper and was suspended for five games by MLB. On May 14, Harper was 19 when he hit his first career Major League home run, connecting off of San Diego Padres pitcher Tim Stauffer. He was the youngest player to homer in the major leagues since Adrián Beltré did in 1998. He was named National League Rookie of the Month for May.


title: Bryce Harper

text: Harper earned his first walk-off hit on June 5 with an RBI single in the bottom of the 12th inning against the New York Mets.


title: Bryce Harper

text: During a game against the Toronto Blue Jays on June 12, Harper hit a deep home run to center field that struck an advertising banner adjacent to the restaurant in the second tier of seats at the Rogers Centre, estimated to travel 438 feet. After the game, a reporter asked if Harper would take advantage of Ontario's lower drinking age (19, versus 21 in the U.S.) by drinking a celebratory beer with his teammates. Harper replied, "I'm not going to answer that. That's a clown question, bro." The comment quickly developed into an Internet meme, and the phrase itself repeated, in response to a question, by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Harper filed an application to trademark the phrase.


title: Bryce Harper

text: Harper was named a candidate in the All-Star Final Vote, with the winner being added to the All-Star Game roster. Harper finished third behind David Freese and Michael Bourn. However, Bourn would make the roster after Ian Desmond sustained an injury and Harper would become the youngest position player (and third-youngest player, behind Dwight Gooden and Bob Feller) to ever make an All-Star roster when it was announced Giancarlo Stanton would undergo knee surgery. "I don't have words to explain it right now. It's exciting to go. I'm excited to get there and be around all the top guys in the country, of course, and the top guys in baseball. I'm going to take it all in and try to enjoy it with my family and just be as mellow and as calm as I can," Harper stated. He went 0-for-1 with a strikeout and a walk.


title: Bryce Harper

text: Harper struggled in the games following the All-Star break, hitting .176 with 26 strikeouts in his first 116 plate appearances in the second half of the season. Manager Davey Johnson began to give Harper days off due to his poor play and visible on-field frustration. Johnson said that Harper had become "overly aggressive" at the plate.


title: Bryce Harper

text: Harper's play began to improve in late August. He hit two home runs in a game against the Miami Marlins on August 29, his first career multi-homer game, and received his first major league ejection after throwing his helmet down in the ninth inning in response to hitting into a double play. He had a second multi-homer game on September 5, against the Chicago Cubs. Harper was named Rookie of the Month again in September after hitting .330 with seven home runs. Harper's 254 total bases and 57 extra base hits were the most ever for a player under age 20, while his 22 home runs, 98 runs scored, .340 on-base percentage, .477 slugging percentage, and .817 on base-plus-slugging were the best regular season totals for a teenager in the past 45 years.


title: Bryce Harper

text: In Game 5 of the 2012 NLDS against the St. Louis Cardinals, Harper hit his first postseason home run. The Nationals would eventually lose the game 7–9 despite leading by 6 runs. He finished his first postseason appearance with a .130 batting average.


title: Bryce Harper

text: Harper was named the National League Rookie of the Year. He received 112 votes, 16 of them first-place votes, beating Arizona's Wade Miley (105 votes, 12 first-place) and Cincinnati's Todd Frazier.


title: Bryce Harper

text: Harper hit two home runs against the Miami Marlins on Opening Day of the 2013 season. At age 20, he became the youngest major league player to hit two home runs in his team's first game of the season. He was voted a starter for the MLB All-Star Game, his second career All-Star selection.


title: Bryce Harper

text: After hitting 13 home runs in just 58 games, Harper was selected to participate in the 2013 Home Run Derby. Harper hit a total of 16 home runs in the first two rounds to advance to the final round, in which he faced Yoenis Céspedes, an outfielder for the Oakland Athletics. Although he lost 9–8 in the finals, Harper was the second-youngest player to participate in the Home Run Derby, and the youngest to ever make it to the final round. Harper hit his 17th homer of the season on August 6, the 39th of his career, passing Ken Griffey Jr. for most home runs by a player younger than 21. Only two other players hit more home runs than Harper before turning 21. In 118 games, he hit .274/.368/.486 with 20 home runs, 58 RBIs, and 47 extra base hits. During the 2013 off-season, Harper successfully underwent left knee surgery to remove a bursa sac.


title: Bryce Harper

text: During a game against the San Diego Padres on April 25, 2014, Harper suffered a left thumb injury when he slid into third base on a 3-run triple. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list the next day. An MRI revealed that the thumb had a torn ulnar collateral ligament. On April 28, it was announced that Harper would require surgery to repair the ligament tear in the thumb. During a rehab game with the Double-A Harrisburg Senators on June 28, Harper hit 3 home runs in a single game. Harper returned to the Majors on June 30. In 100 games during the season, Harper batted .273 with 13 home runs and 32 RBI.


title: Bryce Harper

text: After the 2014 season, Harper planned to travel to Japan to participate in the 2014 Major League Baseball Japan All-Star Series, but later withdrew.


title: Bryce Harper

text: On April 18, 2015, Harper hit the longest home run of his MLB career with a 461-foot drive over the center field wall against the Philadelphia Phillies. On May 6, Harper hit three home runs in a single game for the first time in his career. He did it against Tom Koehler, with one of the shots going 442 feet to the second deck in a 7–5 victory over the Miami Marlins. He became the youngest player to accomplish this feat since Joe Lahoud in 1969. Harper was later awarded the Player of the Month Award for May for the first time in his career.


title: Bryce Harper

text: Measured by adjusted OPS (OPS+), Harper's 2015 was a top-5 hitting season (since 1900) for all players under the age of 23, and the best season of any hitter since Barry Bonds a decade earlier. He also led the majors in WAR and tied for the NL home run title with 42. Harper also became the youngest player ever with at least 40 home runs and 120 walks in one season, a distinction previously held by Babe Ruth.


title: Bryce Harper

text: "Baseball America" named Bryce the 2015 player of the year. On October 31, Harper was named the National League winner of the 2015 Hank Aaron Award. On November 19, Harper was selected as the 2015 National League Most Valuable Player by unanimous decision. With his MVP win at age 23, Harper became the youngest player to unanimously win the award. Harper also became the first player in Nationals/Expos history to win an MVP award and the first player that played for a Washington team to win one. ESPN chose him as their 2015 MLB Person of the Year.


title: Bryce Harper

text: On April 14, 2016, Harper hit his first career grand slam for his 100th career home run in a game against the Atlanta Braves. Three days later, he hit a home run for a fourth straight game, setting a new career streak for most consecutive games with a home run. He was named National League Player of the Week on April 18, after driving in 12 runs, tying a club record for home runs in consecutive games and becoming the eighth-youngest player in major league history to reach 100 home runs.


title: Bryce Harper

text: On May 8, Harper was walked six times in a game against the Chicago Cubs, tying the MLB record for most walks in a game. Harper also reached base seven times (besides the six walks he was also hit by a pitch), becoming the first player in over 100 years to reach base seven times without recording an at-bat. In total, Harper was walked 13 times in the four-game series, setting a new MLB record for most walks in a series. On May 9, Harper was ejected from the dugout for yelling at home plate umpire Brian Knight when teammate Danny Espinosa was called out on strikes. Harper returned to the field to celebrate the win with his teammates and was caught shouting profanity towards Knight. Two days later, Harper was given a one-game suspension and an undisclosed fine, but Harper appealed the same day. On May 14, Harper dropped his appeal and began serving the one-game suspension. In 147 games of 2016, Harper finished with a .243 batting average, 24 home runs, and 86 RBI. He also walked 108 times, and 20 of them were intentional that led MLB.


title: Bryce Harper

text: The Nationals finished the season with a 95–67 record, clinching the NL East division, but lost to the Dodgers in the 2016 NLDS.


title: Bryce Harper

text: On Opening Day, April 3, 2017, Harper hit a solo home run, struck out, and walked against the Miami Marlins. His home run was the fifth of his career in a season opener, the most by a player younger than 25. He set the MLB record for runs scored in the month of April with 32, surpassing Larry Walker's 29 in 1997.


title: Bryce Harper

text: On May 13, Harper and the Nationals avoided arbitration in 2018 by agreeing to a one-year, $21.625-million contract. That night, he hit a walk-off home run versus the Philadelphia Phillies for the second time in the 2017 season, after doing it on April 16 as well.


title: Bryce Harper

text: On May 16, Harper hit a home run at PNC Park, which meant in his career he had hit a home run in all 15 National League ballparks.


title: Bryce Harper

text: On May 29, in a game against the San Francisco Giants, Harper was hit by a pitch from Hunter Strickland. Harper had hit two home runs off of Strickland in the 2014 National League Division Series (a series the Giants won), leading Harper to believe Strickland was seeking revenge. Harper slammed down his bat and charged the mound, throwing his helmet wide of Strickland before the two players exchanged punches, starting a bench-clearing brawl in which Giants first baseman Michael Morse, one of several former Nationals teammates of Harper on the Giants team, suffered a serious concussion in a collision with Giants pitcher Jeff Samardzija, which would go on to end his career. Both Harper and Strickland were ejected for their roles in the brawl. The next day, on May 30, Harper was suspended four games. Harper appealed, and his suspension was reduced to three games. Harper credited Morse with preventing him from injury during the scrum, as Morse had absorbed a body blow from Samardzija that appeared to be aimed at Harper, telling a MASN reporter, "I'm very thankful for Mikey Mo."


title: Bryce Harper

text: Harper was the top overall vote-getter for the National League to start in the 2017 Major League Baseball All-Star Game and received the most votes of any one player overall. As the starting right fielder for the National League All-Stars, he went 1-for-1 with a walk and made a diving catch to rob American League catcher Salvador Pérez of a base hit. He wore cleats for the All-Star Game in honor of the late Miami Marlins ace José Fernández, a division rival pitcher who had held Harper to a career .211 batting average against him; Fernández had been killed in a September 2016 boat crash.


title: Bryce Harper

text: On July 27, Harper hit one of four consecutive home runs by Nationals hitters off Milwaukee Brewers starter Michael Blazek; this was the first time that the feat had been accomplished in Major League Baseball since the 2011 season. On August 7, he hit his 150th home run. He was 24 years and 295 days old when he accomplished this feat, exactly the same age as Los Angeles Angels superstar Mike Trout when he hit his 150th home run. On August 12, Harper suffered a hyperextended left knee after reaching first base; the injury forced him to leave the game. It was later revealed that his left knee had a significant bone bruise, but no ligament damage, sending him to the disabled list but prompting team officials to say they were confident he could return before the end of the season. On September 27, Bryce was reactivated off of the DL against the Philadelphia Phillies.


title: Bryce Harper

text: On October 13, Harper went 2–4 with an RBI in Game 5 of the NLDS, and made the last out of the game by striking out against Chicago Cubs' closer, Wade Davis, ending the Nationals' NLCS bid.


title: Bryce Harper

text: Harper began the 2018 season by drawing more walks than in previous years. He was batting .219 with 21 home runs and 50 RBIs when he was named a starting outfielder for the 2018 MLB All-Star Game, where he also won the homerun derby. He finished the season with a career-high 130 walks, 34 home runs, a .249 batting average, and 100 RBIs, marking his first season reaching triple-digit RBIs. He became a free agent after the 2018 season.


title: Bryce Harper

text: On March 2, 2019, Harper signed a 13-year, $330 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. This deal set the record for the largest MLB contract until Mike Trout signed a 12-year, $430 million contract extension with the Los Angeles Angels. Harper chose to wear No. 3 with the club, as the number he wore with the Nationals (34) was being considered for retirement by the Phillies in honor of the late Roy Halladay. At his first press conference, Harper misspoke saying "We want to bring a title back to D.C." The Nationals ended up winning the 2019 World Series in Harper's absence.


title: Bryce Harper

text: Harper's first hit as a member of the Phillies was a 465-foot home run to the second deck of the right field bleachers at Citizens Bank Park on March 30, 2019, off Jesse Biddle of the Atlanta Braves. On August 15, 2019, Harper hit a walk-off grand slam against the Chicago Cubs. On September 3, 2019, Harper would bat his 100th RBI of the season for the second consecutive year and was the first Philadelphia Phillies player since Ryan Howard in 2011 to hit for 100 RBIs or more in a season. However, the Phillies missed the playoffs, being eliminated officially on September 24 by losing to the eventual World Series champions and Harper's former team, the Washington Nationals.


title: Bryce Harper

text: In March 2020, the Major League Baseball season was suspended indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 15, Harper took to Instagram and suggested a potential 135-game season that would last from July through November. Major League Baseball eventually settled on a 60-game season that began on July 24. Harper hit .268/.420/.542 with 13 home runs and 33 RBIs and led the majors with 49 walks during the season.


title: Bryce Harper

text: In 2021, Harper batted .309/.429/.615 with 35 home runs and 84 RBIs in 141 games. His slugging percentage led the major leagues. He also led the National League with 78 extra-base hits and tied for the major league lead with 42 doubles. He won his second career National League MVP award. He is the second player in Major League history to win a league MVP with two different teams before the age of 30, joining Barry Bonds.


title: Bryce Harper

text: On May 12, Harper was diagnosed with a small tear in the ulnar collateal ligament of his right elbow. He received a platelet-rich plasma injection to alleviate the pain on May 15, but was not allowed to throw in the outfield for at least six weeks. He was used exclusively as a designated hitter to avoid further damage. While playing against the San Diego Padres on June 25, Harper was hit by a pitch from Blake Snell. In the aftermath, Harper suffered a fractured left thumb and ruled out indefinitely. He underwent surgery on his thumb on July 6 with three pins being inserted to stabilize the area.


title: Bryce Harper

text: In August, Harper was designated to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs in Allentown, the Phillies' Triple-A affiliate, as a final step in his rehabilitation stint from his thumb fracture in June. IronPigs' fans in Allentown greeted Harper's appearance enthusiastically, and Coca-Cola Park quickly sold out to its 10,100 capacity for Harper's appearance against the Gwinnett Stripers. In his August 23 appearance with the IronPigs, Harper homered twice. The Phillies surged in the second half to reach the playoffs, their first appearance since 2011.


title: Bryce Harper

text: In the 2022 regular season, Harper batted .286/.364/.514 in 370 at bats, with 63 runs, 18 home runs, 65 RBIs, 7 sacrifice flies (6th in the NL), and 9 intentional walks (9th), as he had the 9th-highest salary in baseball ($27.5 million). He played 90 games at DH, and eight games in right field.


title: Bryce Harper

text: In Harper's first postseason series since 2017, he hit a home run in Game 2 of the NL Wild Card Series vs St. Louis in an eventual 2–0 victory. With their advancement to the NLDS, Harper finally won a postseason series. He batted 8 for 16 in the NLDS against the defending champion Atlanta Braves; helping the Phillies win the series 3–1 and advance to the NLCS for the first time since 2010.


title: Bryce Harper

text: On October 23, 2022 during game 5 of the National League Championship Series, Harper hit a go-ahead 2-run home run in the bottom of the 8th inning off of Padres right-handed reliever Robert Suárez. It would prove to be the game-winning hit, sending the Phillies to the 2022 World Series against the Houston Astros. At the end of the game, Harper was voted 2022 NLCS MVP.


title: Bryce Harper

text: During his first World Series, Harper went 4 for 20 at bats, scoring a run each in Games 1 and 3. Most notably, in Game 3, Harper hit the first of five homers from the Phillies against Lance McCullers, Jr., with the game tying the record for most home runs from a single team in one World Series game. The Phillies would lose against the Astros four games to two. On November 23, 2022, it was announced that Harper underwent Tommy John surgery and would miss a portion of the 2023 season, with the expectation he could return as the Phillies' everyday designated hitter at around the All-Star break.


title: Bryce Harper

text: Harper played for the United States U-18 baseball team in 2008 and 2009, before he was drafted by the Nationals.


title: Bryce Harper

text: On August 12, 2022, Harper announced that he would join the United States national baseball team in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, joining fellow Phillie J. T. Realmuto.


title: Bryce Harper

text: Harper resides in Henderson, Nevada, during the off-season. His father, Ron, is an ironworker in Las Vegas and his mother is Sherilyn Harper. Harper attributes his work ethic to the lessons he learned from watching his father: "I wanted to come out and I wanted to work hard because he worked hard. He did it for over 25 years." Harper's older brother, Bryan, also played in the Washington Nationals organization. While playing on different teams within the Nationals organization, the Harper brothers spoke by phone "almost every day" during the baseball season, according to Bryce. When he was a youth in Las Vegas, he also played alongside Joey Gallo and Kris Bryant.


title: Bryce Harper

text: Harper is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has spoken publicly about his decision to abstain from alcohol. In 2014, he said that he sometimes drinks coffee during the baseball season. Though serving a mission is strongly encouraged for male members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who are between the ages of 18 and 26, it is not required. Harper decided his mission rested on the diamond. In a 2016 interview, he said, "Coming up to the draft and trying to make that decision, I always thought that my Heavenly Father upstairs always just wanted me to be a walking Book of Mormon, you could say," [...] "I knew that I could touch a lot of people's lives playing and trying to be the best Mormon that I can be on and off the field."


title: Bryce Harper

text: Harper and his girlfriend Kayla Varner were engaged in 2014, but their wedding that was set for January 2015 did not take place. In July 2016, Kayla announced the couple's reconciliation and re-engagement. They were married at the San Diego California Temple in December 2016. Their first child, a son, was born in Las Vegas on August 22, 2019, while Harper was with his wife on paternity leave. Their second child, a daughter, was born in November 2020.


title: Bryce Harper

text: In 2018, the Washington Nationals Dream Foundation and the District of Columbia Department of Parks and Recreation renovated a baseball field in the Takoma neighborhood of Washington, D.C. and named it Bryce Harper Field.


title: Bryce Harper

text: Harper is a fan of the Vegas Golden Knights of the NHL. He dropped the puck before a game in their inaugural season and put the Golden Knights' logo on his bat during their run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2018. After his first son's birth, the Vegas Golden Knights gifted him a personalized jersey.


title: Bryce Harper

text: Harper was featured in an episode of ESPN . He was featured naked in ESPN's The Magazine 2015 Body Issue. Harper has appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on two occasions, the first in 2016 to play Catch Phrase with Fallon, Andy Samberg and Gigi Hadid, and the second in 2019 to play the video game MLB The Show 19 with Fallon, the latter of which featured Harper as the cover athlete. In 2016, Harper signed a 10-year extension with apparel company Under Armour, at the time the largest endorsement deal in history for a baseball player.


title: Cherub

text: A cherub (; plural cherubim; "kərūḇ", pl. "kərūḇīm", likely borrowed from a derived form of "karabu" "to bless" such as "karibu", "one who blesses", a name for the lamassu) is one of the unearthly beings who directly attend to God, according to Abrahamic religions. The numerous depictions of cherubim assign to them many different roles, such as protecting the entrance of the Garden of Eden.


title: Cherub

text: In Jewish angelic hierarchy, cherubim have the ninth (second-lowest) rank in Maimonides' "Mishneh Torah" (12th century), and the third rank in Kabbalistic works such as "Berit Menuchah" (14th century).


title: Cherub

text: In the Book of Ezekiel and (at least some) Christian icons, the cherub is depicted as having two pairs of wings, and four faces: that of a lion (representative of all wild animals), an ox (domestic animals), a human (humanity), and an eagle (birds). Their legs were straight, the soles of their feet like the hooves of a bull, gleaming like polished brass.


title: Cherub

text: Later tradition ascribes to them a variety of physical appearances. Some early midrashic literature conceives of them as non-corporeal. In Western Christian tradition, cherubim have become associated with the putto (derived from classical Cupid / Eros figure), resulting in depictions of cherubim as small, plump, winged boys.


title: Cherub

text: In Islam, "" refers to the archangels. The term "muqarraboon" is sometimes considered to be a class of angels, and an alternative name for the cherubim, including the archangels and the Bearers of the Throne. Below the angels of the throne, the angels subordinative to Michael are also identified as cherubim. In Ismailism, there are Seven Archangels referred to as cherubim.


title: Cherub

text: Aside from Ezekiel's vision, no detailed attestations of "cherubim" survive, and Ezekiel's description of the tetramorph being may not be the same as the "cherubim" of the historic Israelites. All that can be gleaned about the "cherubim" of the Israelites come from potential equivalences in the cultures which surrounded them.


title: Cherub

text: Delitzch ("Assyrisches Handwörterbuch") connects the name "keruv" with Assyrian "kirubu" (a name of the "shedu") and "karabu" ("great, mighty"). Karppe (1897) glosses Babylonian "karâbu" as "propitious" rather than "mighty".


title: Cherub

text: Dhorme (1926) connected the Hebrew name to Assyrian "kāribu" (diminutive "kurību"), a term used to refer to intercessory beings (and statues of such beings) that plead with the gods on behalf of humanity. The folk etymological connection to a Hebrew word for "youthful" is due to Abbahu (3rd century).


title: Cherub

text: The Israelite cherubim are described as fulfilling a variety of functions – most often, they are described as bolstering the throne of Yahweh. Ezekiel's vision of the cherubim also emulate this, as the conjoined wingspan of the four cherubim are described as forming the boundary of the divine chariot. Likewise, on the "mercy seat" of the Ark of the Covenant, two cherubim are described as bounding the ark and forming a space through which Yahweh would appear – however, aside from the instruction that they be beaten out of the sides of the ark, there are no details about these cherubim specified the text. The status of the "cherubim" as constituting a sort-of vehicle for Yahweh is present in Ezekiel's visions, the Books of Samuel, the parallel passages in the later Books of Chronicles, and passages in the early Psalms: for example, "and he rode upon a cherub and did fly: and he was seen upon the wings of the wind."


title: Cherub

text: The traditional Hebrew conception of cherubim as guardians of the Garden of Eden is backed by the Semitic belief of beings of superhuman power and devoid of human feelings, whose duty it was to represent the gods, and as guardians of their sanctuaries to repel intruders; these conceptions in turn are similar to an account found on Tablet 9 of the inscriptions found at Nimrud.


title: Cherub

text: The appearance of the "cherubim" continue to be a subject of debate. Mythological hybrids are common in the art of the Ancient Near East. One example is the Babylonian "lamassu" or "shedu", a protective spirit with a sphinx-like form, possessing the wings of an eagle, the body of a lion or bull, and the head of a king. This was adopted largely in Phoenicia. The wings, because of their artistic beauty and because of their symbolic use as a mark of creatures of the heavens, soon became the most prominent part, and animals of various kinds were adorned with wings; consequently, wings were bestowed also upon human forms, thus leading to the stereotypical image of an angel.


title: Cherub

text: W.F. Albright (1938) argued that "the winged lion with human head" found in Phoenicia and Canaan from the Late Bronze Age is "much more common than any other winged creature, so much so that its identification with the cherub is certain". A possibly related source is the human-bodied Hittite griffin, which, unlike other griffins, appear almost always not as a fierce bird of prey, but seated in calm dignity, like an irresistible guardian of holy things; some have proposed that the word "griffin" () may be cognate with "cherubim" ("kruv" > "grups"). While Ezekiel initially describes the tetramorph "cherubim" as having


title: Cherub

text: which (given that "ox" has apparently been substituted with "the cherub") some have taken to imply that "cherubim" were envisioned to have the head of a bovine.


title: Cherub

text: In particular resonance with the idea of cherubim embodying the throne of God, numerous pieces of art from Phoenicia, Egypt, and even Tel Megiddo in northern Israel depict kings or deities being carried on their thrones by hybrid winged-creatures.


title: Cherub

text: If this largely animal-esque appearance is how the ancient Israelites envisioned cherubim, it raises more questions than it answers. For one, it is difficult to visualize the cherubim of the Ark of the Covenant as quadrupedal creatures with backward-facing wings, as these cherubim were meant to face each other and have their wings meet, while still remaining on the edges of the cover, where they were beaten from. At the same time, these creatures have little-to-no resemblance to the "cherubim" in Ezekiel's vision. On the other hand, even if "cherubim" had a more humanoid form, this still would not entirely match Ezekiel's vision, and likewise seemingly clashes with the apparently equivalent archetypes of the cultures surrounding the Israelites, which almost uniformly depicted beings which served analogous purposes to Israel's "cherubim" as largely animalistic in shape. All of this may indicate that the Israelite idea of what a "cherub" looked like was subject to change, and perhaps not wholly consistent.


title: Cherub

text: The cherubim are the most frequently occurring heavenly creature in the Hebrew Bible, as the Hebrew word appears 91 times. The first occurrence is in the Book of Genesis 3:24. Despite these many references, the role of the cherubim is never explicitly elucidated. While Hebrew tradition must have conceived of the cherubim as guardians of the Garden of Eden (in which they guard the way to the Tree of life), they are often depicted as performing other roles; for example in the Book of Ezekiel, they transport Yahweh's throne. The cherub who appears in the "Song of David", a poem which occurs twice in the Hebrew Bible, in 2 Samuel 22 and Psalm 18, participates in Yahweh's theophany and is imagined as a vehicle upon which the deity descends to earth from heaven in order to rescue the speaker (see 2 Samuel 22:11, Psalm 18:10).


title: Cherub

text: In Exodus 25:18–22, God tells Moses to make multiple images of cherubim at specific points around the Ark of the Covenant. Many appearances of the words "cherub" and "cherubim" in the Bible refer to the gold cherubim images on the mercy seat of the Ark, as well as images on the curtains of the Tabernacle and in Solomon's Temple, including two measuring ten cubits high.


title: Cherub

text: In , Hezekiah prays, addressing God as "enthroned above the cherubim" (referring to the mercy seat). In regard's to Solomon's Temple as described in 1 Kings, Eichler renders the phrase "yoshev ha-keruvim" as “who dwells among the cherubim”. This phrase is the same in 1 Kings and Isaiah. Eichler's interpretation in contrast to common translations for many years that rendered it as “who sits upon the cherubim”. This has implications for the understanding of whether the ark of the covenant in the Temple was literally YHWH's throne or simply an indicator of YHWH's immanence.


title: Cherub

text: Cherubim feature at some length in the Book of Ezekiel. While they first appear in chapter one, in which they are transporting the throne of God by the river Chebar, they are not called "cherubim" until chapter 10. In Ezekiel 1:5–11 they are described as having the likeness of a man, and having four faces: that of a man, a lion (on the right side), and ox (on the left side), and an eagle. The four faces represent the four domains of God's rule: the man represents humanity; the lion, wild animals; the ox, domestic animals; and the eagle, birds. These faces peer out from the center of an array of four wings; these wings are joined to each other, two of these are stretched upward, and the other two cover their bodies. Under their wings are human hands; their legs are described as straight, and their feet like those of a calf, shining like polished brass. Between the creatures glowing coals that moved between them could be seen, their fire "went up and down", and lightning burst forth from it. The cherubs also moved like flashes of lightning.


title: Cherub

text: In Ezekiel chapter 10, another full description of the cherubim appears with slight differences in details. Three of the four faces are the same – man, lion and eagle – but where chapter one has the face of an ox, Ezekiel 10:14 says "face of a cherub". Ezekiel equates the cherubim of chapter ten with the living creatures of chapter one: "They were the same creatures (חיה) I had seen by the river Chebar" (Ezekiel 10:15) and "These were the living creatures I had seen under the God of Israel on the banks of the river Chebar" (Ezekiel 10:20). In Ezekiel 41:18–20, they are portrayed as having two faces, although this is probably because they are depicted in profile.


title: Cherub

text: In rabbinic literature, the two "cherubim" are described as being human-like figures with wings, one a boy and the other a girl, placed on the opposite ends of the Mercy seat in the inner-sanctum of God's house. Solomon's Temple was decorated with Cherubs according to , and Aḥa bar Ya’akov claimed this was true of the Second Temple as well.


title: Cherub

text: Many forms of Judaism include a belief in the existence of angels, including cherubim within the Jewish angelic hierarchy. The existence of angels is generally accepted within traditional rabbinic Judaism. There is, however, a wide range of beliefs within Judaism about what angels actually are and how literally one should interpret biblical passages associated with them.


title: Cherub

text: In Kabbalah there has long been a strong belief in cherubim, the cherubim and other angels regarded as having mystical roles. The "Zohar", a highly significant collection of books in Jewish mysticism, states that the cherubim were led by one of their number named Kerubiel.


title: Cherub

text: On the other end of the philosophical spectrum is Maimonides, who had a neo-Aristotelian interpretation of the Bible. Maimonides writes that to the wise man, one sees that what the Bible and Talmud refer to as "angels" are actually allusions to the various laws of nature; they are the principles by which the physical universe operates.


title: Cherub

text: Maimonides says that the figures of the cherubim were placed in the sanctuary only to preserve among the people the belief in angels, there being two in order that the people might not be led to believe that they were the image of God.


title: Cherub

text: Cherubim are discussed within the midrash literature. The two cherubim placed by God at the entrance of paradise were angels created on the third day, and therefore they had no definite shape; appearing either as men or women, or as spirits or angelic beings. The cherubim were the first objects created in the universe. The following sentence of the Midrash is characteristic:


title: Cherub

text: In early Jewish tradition there existed the notion that cherubim had youthful, human features, due to the etymologization of the name by Abbahu (3rd century). Before this, some early midrashic literature conceived of the cherubim as non-corporeal. In the first century AD, Josephus claimed:


title: Cherub

text: A midrash states that when Pharaoh pursued Israel at the Red Sea, God took a cherub from the wheels of His throne and flew to the spot, for God inspects the heavenly worlds while sitting on a cherub. The cherub, however, is "something not material", and is carried by God, not vice versa.


title: Cherub

text: In the passages of the Talmud that describe the heavens and their inhabitants, the seraphim, ofannim, and living creatures are mentioned, but not the cherubim; and the ancient liturgy also mentions only these three classes.


title: Cherub

text: In the Talmud, Jose the Galilean holds that when the Birkat Hamazon (grace after meals) is recited by at least ten thousand seated at one meal, a special blessing,


title: Cherub

text: In Medieval theology, following the writings of Pseudo-Dionysius, the cherubim are the second highest rank in the angelic hierarchy, following the seraphim.


title: Cherub

text: Cherubim are regarded in traditional Christian angelology as angels of the second highest order of the ninefold celestial hierarchy.


title: Cherub

text: According to Thomas Aquinas, the cherubim are characterized by knowledge, in contrast to seraphim, who are characterized by their "burning love to God".


title: Cherub

text: In Western art, cherubim became associated with the putto and the Greco-Roman god Cupid/Eros, with depictions as small, plump, winged boys.


title: Cherub

text: Artistic representations of cherubim in Early Christian and Byzantine art sometimes diverged from scriptural descriptions. The earliest known depiction of the tetramorph cherubim is the 5th–6th century apse mosaic found in the Thessalonian Church of Hosios David. This mosaic is an amalgamation of Ezekiel's visions in , , Isaiah's seraphim in and the six-winged creatures of Revelation from .


title: Cherub

text: Cherubim (""), alternatively identified with the "Muqarraboon" in the Quran (this identification has been disputed by Louise Gallorini) are a class of angels, near the presence of God. They are entrusted with praising God and interceding for humans. They are usually identified either with a class of angels dwelling in the sixth heaven, or the angels around the Throne of God. The latter include the canonical four Islamic archangels Jibra’il (Gabriel), Mika’il (Michael), Izra’il (Azrael) and Isra’fil (Raphael), and additionally four more called Bearers of the Throne, a total of eight cherubim. Ibn Kathir distinguishes between the angels of the throne and the cherubim. In a 13th-14th Century work called "Book of the Wonders of Creation and the peculiarities of Existing Things" the cherubim belong to an order below the Bearers of the Throne, who in turn are identified with seraphim instead. Abu Ishaq al-Tha'labi also places the cherubim as the highest angels only next to the Bearers of the Throne.


title: Cherub

text: The Quran mentions the "Muqarraboon" in An-Nisa verse 172, angels who worship God and are not proud. Further, cherubim appear in Miraj literature and Qisas Al-Anbiya. The cherubim around the throne are continuously praising God with the "tasbih": "Glory to Allah!" They are described as bright as no one of the lower angels can envision them. Cherubim as angels of mercy, created by the tears of Michael are not identified with the bearers of the throne. They too, request God to pardon humans. In contrast to the messenger angels, the cherubim (and seraphim) always remain in the presence of God. If they stop praising God, they fall.


title: Cherub

text: Mohammad-Baqer Majlesi narrates about a fallen cherub encountered by Muhammad in the form of a snake. The snake tells him that he did not performed "dhikr" (remembrance of God) for a moment, and so God was angry with him and cast him down to earth in the form of a snake. Then Muhammad went to Hasan and Husayn. Together they interceded (Tawassul) for the angel and God restored him to his angelic form. A similar story appears in "Tabari's Bishara". An angel called "Futrus", described as an "angel-cherub" ("malak al-karubiyyin"), was sent by God, but since the angel failed to complete his task in time, God broke one of his wings. Muhammad interceded for the cherub, and God forgave the fallen angel, whereupon he became the guardian for Hussain's grave.


title: Io (moon)

text: Io (), or Jupiter I, is the innermost and third-largest of the four Galilean moons of the planet Jupiter. Slightly larger than Earth’s moon, Io is the fourth-largest moon in the Solar System, has the highest density of any moon, the strongest surface gravity of any moon, and the lowest amount of water (by atomic ratio) of any known astronomical object in the Solar System. It was discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei and was named after the mythological character Io, a priestess of Hera who became one of Zeus's lovers.


title: Io (moon)

text: With over 400 active volcanoes, Io is the most geologically active object in the Solar System. This extreme geologic activity is the result of tidal heating from friction generated within Io's interior as it is pulled between Jupiter and the other Galilean moons—Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Several volcanoes produce plumes of sulfur and sulfur dioxide that climb as high as above the surface. Io's surface is also dotted with more than 100 mountains that have been uplifted by extensive compression at the base of Io's silicate crust. Some of these peaks are taller than Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth's surface. Unlike most moons in the outer Solar System, which are mostly composed of water ice, Io is primarily composed of silicate rock surrounding a molten iron or iron sulfide core. Most of Io's surface is composed of extensive plains with a frosty coating of sulfur and sulfur dioxide.


title: Io (moon)

text: Io's volcanism is responsible for many of its unique features. Its volcanic plumes and lava flows produce large surface changes and paint the surface in various subtle shades of yellow, red, white, black, and green, largely due to allotropes and compounds of sulfur. Numerous extensive lava flows, several more than in length, also mark the surface. The materials produced by this volcanism make up Io's thin, patchy atmosphere and Jupiter's extensive magnetosphere. Io's volcanic ejecta also produce a large plasma torus around Jupiter.


title: Io (moon)

text: Io played a significant role in the development of astronomy in the 17th and 18th centuries; discovered in January 1610 by Galileo Galilei, along with the other Galilean satellites, this discovery furthered the adoption of the Copernican model of the Solar System, the development of Kepler's laws of motion, and the first measurement of the speed of light. Viewed from Earth, Io remained just a point of light until the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when it became possible to resolve its large-scale surface features, such as the dark red polar and bright equatorial regions. In 1979, the two "Voyager" spacecraft revealed Io to be a geologically active world, with numerous volcanic features, large mountains, and a young surface with no obvious impact craters. The "Galileo" spacecraft performed several close flybys in the 1990s and early 2000s, obtaining data about Io's interior structure and surface composition. These spacecraft also revealed the relationship between Io and Jupiter's magnetosphere and the existence of a belt of high-energy radiation centered on Io's orbit. Io receives about 3,600 rem (36 Sv) of ionizing radiation per day.


title: Io (moon)

text: Further observations have been made by "Cassini–Huygens" in 2000, "New Horizons" in 2007, and "Juno" since 2017, as well as from Earth-based telescopes and the Hubble Space Telescope.


title: Io (moon)

text: Although Simon Marius is not credited with the sole discovery of the Galilean satellites, his names for the moons were adopted. In his 1614 publication "Mundus Iovialis anno M.DC.IX Detectus Ope Perspicilli Belgici", he proposed several alternative names for the innermost of the large moons of Jupiter, including "The Mercury of Jupiter" and "The First of the Jovian Planets". Based on a suggestion from Johannes Kepler in October 1613, he also devised a naming scheme whereby each moon was named for a lover of the Greek mythological Zeus or his Roman equivalent, Jupiter. He named the innermost large moon of Jupiter after the Greek mythological figure Io:


title: Io (moon)

text: Marius's names were not widely adopted until centuries later (mid-20th century). In much of the earlier astronomical literature, Io was generally referred to by its Roman numeral designation (a system introduced by Galileo) as "", or as "the first satellite of Jupiter".


title: Io (moon)

text: The customary English pronunciation of the name is , though sometimes people attempt a more 'authentic' pronunciation, . The name has two competing stems in Latin: "Īō" and (rarely) "Īōn". The latter is the basis of the English adjectival form, "Ionian."


title: Io (moon)

text: Features on Io are named after characters and places from the Io myth, as well as deities of fire, volcanoes, the Sun, and thunder from various myths, and characters and places from Dante's "Inferno": names appropriate to the volcanic nature of the surface. Since the surface was first seen up close by "Voyager 1", the International Astronomical Union has approved 225 names for Io's volcanoes, mountains, plateaus, and large albedo features. The approved feature categories used for Io for different types of volcanic features include "patera" ("saucer"; volcanic depression), "fluctus" ("flow"; lava flow), "vallis" ("valley"; lava channel), and active eruptive center (location where plume activity was the first sign of volcanic activity at a particular volcano). Named mountains, plateaus, layered terrain, and shield volcanoes include the terms "mons", "mensa" ("table"), "planum", and "tholus" ("rotunda"), respectively. Named, bright albedo regions use the term "regio". Examples of named features are Prometheus, Pan Mensa, Tvashtar Paterae, and Tsũi Goab Fluctus.


title: Io (moon)

text: The first reported observation of Io was made by Galileo Galilei on 7 January 1610 using a 20x-power, refracting telescope at the University of Padua. However, in that observation, Galileo could not separate Io and Europa due to the low power of his telescope, so the two were recorded as a single point of light. Io and Europa were seen for the first time as separate bodies during Galileo's observations of the Jovian system the following day, 8 January 1610 (used as the discovery date for Io by the IAU). The discovery of Io and the other Galilean satellites of Jupiter was published in Galileo's "Sidereus Nuncius" in March 1610. In his "Mundus Jovialis", published in 1614, Simon Marius claimed to have discovered Io and the other moons of Jupiter in 1609, one week before Galileo's discovery. Galileo doubted this claim and dismissed the work of Marius as plagiarism. Regardless, Marius's first recorded observation came from 29 December 1609 in the Julian calendar, which equates to 8 January 1610 in the Gregorian calendar, which Galileo used. Given that Galileo published his work before Marius, Galileo is credited with the discovery.


title: Io (moon)

text: For the next two and a half centuries, Io remained an unresolved, 5th-magnitude point of light in astronomers' telescopes. During the 17th century, Io and the other Galilean satellites served a variety of purposes, including early methods to determine longitude, validating Kepler's third law of planetary motion, and determining the time required for light to travel between Jupiter and Earth. Based on ephemerides produced by astronomer Giovanni Cassini and others, Pierre-Simon Laplace created a mathematical theory to explain the resonant orbits of Io, Europa, and Ganymede. This resonance was later found to have a profound effect on the geologies of the three moons.


title: Io (moon)

text: Improved telescope technology in the late 19th and 20th centuries allowed astronomers to resolve (that is, see as distinct objects) large-scale surface features on Io. In the 1890s, Edward E. Barnard was the first to observe variations in Io's brightness between its equatorial and polar regions, correctly determining that this was due to differences in color and albedo between the two regions and not due to Io being egg-shaped, as proposed at the time by fellow astronomer William Pickering, or two separate objects, as initially proposed by Barnard. Later telescopic observations confirmed Io's distinct reddish-brown polar regions and yellow-white equatorial band.


title: Io (moon)

text: Telescopic observations in the mid-20th century began to hint at Io's unusual nature. Spectroscopic observations suggested that Io's surface was devoid of water ice (a substance found to be plentiful on the other Galilean satellites). The same observations suggested a surface dominated by evaporates composed of sodium salts and sulfur. Radiotelescopic observations revealed Io's influence on the Jovian magnetosphere, as demonstrated by decametric wavelength bursts tied to the orbital period of Io.


title: Io (moon)

text: The first spacecraft to pass by Io were the "Pioneer 10" and "11" probes on 3 December 1973 and 2 December 1974, respectively. Radio tracking provided an improved estimate of Io's mass, which, along with the best available information of its size, suggested it had the highest density of the Galilean satellites, and was composed primarily of silicate rock rather than water ice. The "Pioneer"s also revealed the presence of a thin atmosphere and intense radiation belts near the orbit of Io. The camera on board "Pioneer 11" took the only good image of the moon obtained by either spacecraft, showing its north polar region. Close-up images were planned during "Pioneer 10"s encounter, but those were lost because of the high-radiation environment.


title: Io (moon)

text: When the twin probes "Voyager 1" and "Voyager 2" passed by Io in 1979, their more advanced imaging system allowed for far more detailed images. "Voyager 1" flew past Io on 5 March 1979 from a distance of . The images returned during the approach revealed a strange, multi-colored landscape devoid of impact craters. The highest-resolution images showed a relatively young surface punctuated by oddly shaped pits, mountains taller than Mount Everest, and features resembling volcanic lava flows.


title: Io (moon)

text: Shortly after the encounter, "Voyager" navigation engineer Linda A. Morabito noticed a plume emanating from the surface in one of the images. Analysis of other "Voyager 1" images showed nine such plumes scattered across the surface, proving that Io was volcanically active. This conclusion was predicted in a paper published shortly before the "Voyager 1" encounter by Stan Peale, Patrick Cassen, and R. T. Reynolds. The authors calculated that Io's interior must experience significant tidal heating caused by its orbital resonance with Europa and Ganymede (see the "Tidal heating" section for a more detailed explanation of the process). Data from this flyby showed that the surface of Io is dominated by sulfur and sulfur dioxide frosts. These compounds also dominate its thin atmosphere and the torus of plasma centered on Io's orbit (also discovered by "Voyager").


title: Io (moon)

text: "Voyager 2" passed Io on 9 July 1979 at a distance of . Though it did not approach nearly as close as "Voyager 1", comparisons between images taken by the two spacecraft showed several surface changes that had occurred in the four months between the encounters. In addition, observations of Io as a crescent as "Voyager 2" departed the Jovian system revealed that seven of the nine plumes observed in March were still active in July 1979, with only the volcano Pele shutting down between flybys.


title: Io (moon)

text: The "Galileo" spacecraft arrived at Jupiter in 1995 after a six-year journey from Earth to follow up on the discoveries of the two "Voyager" probes and the ground-based observations made in the intervening years. Io's location within one of Jupiter's most intense radiation belts precluded a prolonged close flyby, but "Galileo" did pass close by shortly before entering orbit for its two-year, primary mission studying the Jovian system. Although no images were taken during the close flyby on 7 December 1995, the encounter did yield significant results, such as the discovery of a large iron core, similar to that found in the rocky planets of the inner Solar System.


title: Io (moon)

text: Despite the lack of close-up imaging and mechanical problems that greatly restricted the amount of data returned, several significant discoveries were made during "Galileo" primary mission. "Galileo" observed the effects of a major eruption at Pillan Patera and confirmed that volcanic eruptions are composed of silicate magmas with magnesium-rich mafic and ultramafic compositions. Distant imaging of Io was acquired for almost every orbit during the primary mission, revealing large numbers of active volcanoes (both thermal emission from cooling magma on the surface and volcanic plumes), numerous mountains with widely varying morphologies, and several surface changes that had taken place both between the "Voyager" and "Galileo" eras and between "Galileo" orbits.


title: Io (moon)

text: The "Galileo" mission was twice extended, in 1997 and 2000. During these extended missions, the probe flew by Io three times in late 1999 and early 2000 and three times in late 2001 and early 2002. Observations during these encounters revealed the geologic processes occurring at Io's volcanoes and mountains, excluded the presence of a magnetic field, and demonstrated the extent of volcanic activity.


title: Io (moon)

text: In December 2000, the "Cassini" spacecraft had a distant and brief encounter with the Jovian system en route to Saturn, allowing for joint observations with "Galileo". These observations revealed a new plume at Tvashtar Paterae and provided insights into Io's aurorae.


title: Io (moon)

text: The "New Horizons" spacecraft, en route to Pluto and the Kuiper belt, flew by the Jovian system and Io on 28 February 2007. During the encounter, numerous distant observations of Io were obtained. These included images of a large plume at Tvashtar, providing the first detailed observations of the largest class of Ionian volcanic plume since observations of Pele's plume in 1979. "New Horizons" also captured images of a volcano near "Girru Patera" in the early stages of an eruption, and several volcanic eruptions that have occurred since "Galileo".


title: Io (moon)

text: The "Juno" spacecraft was launched in 2011 and entered orbit around Jupiter on July 5, 2016. "Juno"s mission is primarily focused on improving our understanding of Jupiter's interior, magnetic field, aurorae, and polar atmosphere. "Juno"s 54-day orbit is highly inclined and highly eccentric in order to better characterize Jupiter's polar regions and to limit its exposure to the planet's harsh inner radiation belts, limiting close encounters with Jupiter's moons. During its primary mission, which lasted through June 2021, "Juno"s closest approach to Io to date occurred during Perijove 25 on February 17, 2020, at a distance of 195,000 kilometers, acquiring near-infrared spectrometry with JIRAM while Io was in Jupiter's shadow. In January 2021, NASA officially extended the Juno mission through September 2025. While "Juno"s highly inclined orbit keeps the spacecraft out of the orbital planes of Io and the other major moons of Jupiter, its orbit has been precessing so that its close approach point to Jupiter is at increasing latitudes and the ascending node of its orbit is getting closer to Jupiter with each orbit. This orbital evolution will allow "Juno" to perform a series of close encounters with the Galilean satellites during the extended mission. Two close encounters with Io are planned for "Juno"s extended mission on December 30, 2023, and February 3, 2024, both with altitudes of 1,500 kilometers. Nine additional encounters with altitudes between 11,500 and 94,000 kilometers are also planned between July 2022 and May 2025. The primary goal of these encounters will be to improve our understanding of Io's gravity field using doppler tracking and to image Io's surface to look for surface changes since Io was last seen up-close in 2007.


title: Io (moon)

text: During several orbits, "Juno" has observed Io from a distance using JunoCAM, a wide-angle, visible-light camera, to look for volcanic plumes and JIRAM, a near-infrared spectrometer and imager, to monitor thermal emission from Io's volcanoes. JIRAM near-infrared spectroscopy has so far allowed for the coarse mapping of sulfur dioxide frost across Io's surface as well as mapping minor surface components weakly absorbing sunlight at 2.1 and 2.65 µm.


title: Io (moon)

text: There are two forthcoming missions planned for the Jovian system. The Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (JUICE) is a planned European Space Agency mission to the Jovian system that is intended to end up in Ganymede orbit. JUICE is scheduled for launch in 2023, with arrival at Jupiter planned for July 2031. JUICE will not fly by Io, but it will use its instruments, such as a narrow-angle camera, to monitor Io's volcanic activity and measure its surface composition during the two-year Jupiter-tour phase of the mission prior to Ganymede orbit insertion. Europa Clipper is a planned NASA mission to the Jovian system focused on Jupiter's moon Europa. Like JUICE, Europa Clipper will not perform any flybys of Io, but distant volcano monitoring is likely. "Europa Clipper" has a planned launch in 2024 with an arrival at Jupiter in 2030.


title: Io (moon)

text: The "Io Volcano Observer" (IVO) was a proposal to NASA for a low-cost, Discovery-class mission selected for a Phase A study along with three other missions in 2020. IVO would launch in January 2029 and perform ten flybys of Io while in orbit around Jupiter beginning in the early 2030s. However, the Venus missions DAVINCI+ and VERITAS were selected in favor of those.


title: Io (moon)

text: Io orbits Jupiter at a distance of from Jupiter's center and from its cloudtops. It is the innermost of the Galilean satellites of Jupiter, its orbit lying between those of Thebe and Europa. Including Jupiter's inner satellites, Io is the fifth moon out from Jupiter. It takes Io about 42.5 hours to complete one orbit around Jupiter (fast enough for its motion to be observed over a single night of observation). Io is in a 2:1 mean-motion orbital resonance with Europa and a 4:1 mean-motion orbital resonance with Ganymede, completing two orbits of Jupiter for every one orbit completed by Europa, and four orbits for every one completed by Ganymede. This resonance helps maintain Io's orbital eccentricity (0.0041), which in turn provides the primary heating source for its geologic activity. Without this forced eccentricity, Io's orbit would circularize through tidal dissipation, leading to a less geologically active world.


title: Io (moon)

text: Like the other Galilean satellites and the Moon, Io rotates synchronously with its orbital period, keeping one face nearly pointed toward Jupiter. This synchrony provides the definition for Io's longitude system. Io's prime meridian intersects the equator at the sub-Jovian point. The side of Io that always faces Jupiter is known as the subjovian hemisphere, whereas the side that always faces away is known as the antijovian hemisphere. The side of Io that always faces in the direction that Io travels in its orbit is known as the leading hemisphere, whereas the side that always faces in the opposite direction is known as the trailing hemisphere.


title: Io (moon)

text: From the surface of Io, Jupiter would subtend an arc of 19.5°, making Jupiter appear 39 times the apparent diameter of Earth's Moon.


title: Io (moon)

text: Io plays a significant role in shaping Jupiter's magnetic field, acting as an electric generator that can develop 400,000 volts across itself and create an electric current of 3 million amperes, releasing ions that give Jupiter a magnetic field inflated to more than twice the size it would otherwise have. The magnetosphere of Jupiter sweeps up gases and dust from Io's thin atmosphere at a rate of 1 tonne per second. This material is mostly composed of ionized and atomic sulfur, oxygen and chlorine; atomic sodium and potassium; molecular sulfur dioxide and sulfur; and sodium chloride dust. These materials originate from Io's volcanic activity, with the material that escapes to Jupiter's magnetic field and into interplanetary space coming directly from Io's atmosphere. These materials, depending on their ionized state and composition, end up in various neutral (non-ionized) clouds and radiation belts in Jupiter's magnetosphere and, in some cases, are eventually ejected from the Jovian system.


title: Io (moon)

text: Surrounding Io (at a distance of up to six Io radii from its surface) is a cloud of neutral sulfur, oxygen, sodium, and potassium atoms. These particles originate in Io's upper atmosphere and are excited by collisions with ions in the plasma torus (discussed below) and by other processes into filling Io's Hill sphere, which is the region where Io's gravity is dominant over Jupiter's. Some of this material escapes Io's gravitational pull and goes into orbit around Jupiter. Over a 20-hour period, these particles spread out from Io to form a banana-shaped, neutral cloud that can reach as far as six Jovian radii from Io, either inside Io's orbit and ahead of it or outside Io's orbit and behind it. The collision process that excites these particles also occasionally provides sodium ions in the plasma torus with an electron, removing those new "fast" neutrals from the torus. These particles retain their velocity (70 km/s, compared to the 17 km/s orbital velocity at Io), and are thus ejected in jets leading away from Io.


title: Io (moon)

text: Io orbits within a belt of intense radiation known as the Io plasma torus. The plasma in this doughnut-shaped ring of ionized sulfur, oxygen, sodium, and chlorine originates when neutral atoms in the "cloud" surrounding Io are ionized and carried along by the Jovian magnetosphere. Unlike the particles in the neutral cloud, these particles co-rotate with Jupiter's magnetosphere, revolving around Jupiter at 74 km/s. Like the rest of Jupiter's magnetic field, the plasma torus is tilted with respect to Jupiter's equator (and Io's orbital plane), so that Io is at times below and at other times above the core of the plasma torus. As noted above, these ions' higher velocity and energy levels are partly responsible for the removal of neutral atoms and molecules from Io's atmosphere and more extended neutral cloud. The torus is composed of three sections: an outer, "warm" torus that resides just outside Io's orbit; a vertically extended region known as the "ribbon", composed of the neutral source region and cooling plasma, located at around Io's distance from Jupiter; and an inner, "cold" torus, composed of particles that are slowly spiraling in toward Jupiter. After residing an average of 40 days in the torus, particles in the "warm" torus escape and are partially responsible for Jupiter's unusually large magnetosphere, their outward pressure inflating it from within. Particles from Io, detected as variations in magnetospheric plasma, have been detected far into the long magnetotail by "New Horizons". To study similar variations within the plasma torus, researchers measure the ultraviolet light it emits. Although such variations have not been definitively linked to variations in Io's volcanic activity (the ultimate source for material in the plasma torus), this link has been established in the neutral sodium cloud.


title: Io (moon)

text: During an encounter with Jupiter in 1992, the "Ulysses" spacecraft detected a stream of dust-sized particles being ejected from the Jovian system. The dust in these discrete streams travels away from Jupiter at speeds upwards of several hundred kilometres per second, has an average particle size of 10 μm, and consists primarily of sodium chloride. Dust measurements by "Galileo" showed that these dust streams originate from Io, but exactly how these form, whether from Io's volcanic activity or material removed from the surface, is unknown.