The Galileo orbiter 's flyby of Io last November captured an unusual part of Jupiter 's volcanic moon. From 26,000 kilometers away, Zal Patera was found to be a cauldron of flowing lava , gaseous vents , and tremendous peaks . Red lava can be seen in the above picture erupting along the base of the volcanic caldera, while cooling black lava lines the edge of a volcanic plateau. Shadow lengths indicate that the top of Zal Patera towers nearly 5 kilometers over Io 's molten surface. Galileo zoomed past Io again last month , and has begun beaming back images taken only 200 kilometers over Io's surface .
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