The universe is such a fascinating place and each time we look at it we find more and more reasons to be amazed by the wonders created out there. Extra terrestrial volcanoes are no exception, and if the ones erupting on Earth offer a combination of fear and spectacle, space volcanoes are a sight much more impressive.
10. Olympus Mons on Mars
With its height of almost 25km, Olympus Mons found on Mars is the biggest volcano known in the Solar System and is over three times higher than Mt. Everest. Scientists believe that one of the factors that have contributed to the impressive size of Olympus Mons is that the Mars’ crusted surface does not shift permanently like here on Earth.
9. Pancake Domes on Venus
Most of the 1,600 volcanoes here are shields, besides a few exceptions. These volcanoes have emerged from very dense and sticky lava, the most interesting being the “pancake” domes. They may indicate quartz-rich and marble lavas mix with elements of gas-rich and basalt that generated craters of up to 60 km in width.
8. Tiger Stripes on Enceladus, the Moon of Saturn
Saturn’s celestial satellite Enceladus is among the most unusual things in our Solar System. New researches have revealed that the jets on Enceladus are erupting from the south pole, filling all four Tiger Stripes that measure over 130 km in length and 2 km in width. The particular aspect of tectonics plates indicates that all jets exploded on the same side and have gradually accumulated onto the laterals of the stripes.
7. Pillan Patera on Io (the Moon of Jupiter)
Pillan Patera is surrounded by a dark spot of up to 400 kilometers in diameter, its color being very different from Pele’s bright red. Galileo spaceship has shown that temperature of the lava can exceed 1,700 degrees Celsius while the hottest volcanoes on Earth can reach around 1,500 Celsius, even if hotter substances have erupted millions of years ago.
Also, some of these sights are near vast highlands. As a result, such volcano types vary significantly from their counterparts found here on Earth.
6. Cryovolcanoes on Triton (the Moon of Neptune)
Io has thousands of volcanic ports, some of which can boost their jets in outer space, the eruption consisting of freezing steam and “volcanic snow” thousands of kilometers high into the atmosphere. These fumes could be the only product of such enormous breakouts, or there might be present a form of associated silicate stone and melted sulfur.
5. Tupan Patera on Io
This is one of the active volcanoes on Io, Jupiter’s moon. It is situated on the hemisphere opposed to Jupiter, consisting of its volcanic crater with a width of 79 kilometers and a depth of 900 meters. The studies have shown a warm and dark lava based on silicate on both sides of the crater with a core made of bright and cool substances. These materials have been observed also on the margins of the core as well as on the southeast side of the volcano.
4. Tharsis Montes on Mars
Tharsis Montes is the biggest volcanic area on Mars. It is roughly 4,000 km across with 10 km in width and has 12 huge volcanoes. The biggest volcanoes in this area are 4 shields known as Pavonis Mons, Ascraeus Mons, Olympus Mons and Arsia Mons. They are situated on the crest of the crusted side and their peaks (over 15 km) are at the same level as that of Olympus Mons, the biggest of the Tharsis volcanoes.
3. Culann Patera on Io
A very dynamic area known as Culann Patera is one of the most brilliant volcanoes on Jupiter’s largest satellite.The volcano has expelled for years both black and red lava streams, as well as silicone based elements of red and yellow-colored sulfur pollutants from the extremely hot plumes. Dissolved silicate rock can sometimes mix with subsurfaced deposits of sulfur and dioxides to create the plumes.
2. ‘An Unusual Volcano’ on Venus
Sapas Mons is a large volcanic area roughly 100 kilometers across and 1.5 kilometers high located in a small region in Atla Regio. Its peak includes two mesas with flat to a slight convexion cover and a smooth area that appears dark in the pictures. The edges of the volcanic region show numerous shiny streams and many of these movements appear to be only short breakouts.
1. Tvashtar Paterae on Io
Situated near the satellite’s north pole, Tvashtar Paterae is actually a sequence of volcanic craters measuring more than 25 km in diameter. Tvashtar was analyzed by the Galileo spacecraft over several decades and recently a lengthy layer of lava more than 5 km in width was seen to appear from one crater, while a pond of 300 km high made from superheated silicate lava exploded in the biggest patera.
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