Astronomy
Tidal Heating and Geological Activity on Volcanic Moons
Quick fact
Io, the innermost of Jupiter's large moons, is the most volcanically active body in the solar system, with hundreds of active volcanoes spewing lava and sulfur, all driven by tidal heating from Jupiter's gravitational pull.
Why this is interesting
Have you heard of a place where volcanoes erupt with molten sulfur and lakes of lava glow red on a moon that's barely bigger than our own? That's Jupiter's moon Io — and its ferocious volcanism is powered not by a hot core, but by the gravitational squeeze of its parent planet.