#loki patera

The largest volcano in the solar system, located on Jupiter’s moon Io, is called Loki, named after Loki of Norse Mythology.  There are several other volcanoes on the moon of Io, and all of them are named after mythical figures, most of whom are associated with fire.

Loki generates more lava and heat than all volcanoes on Earth combined, is 202km in diameter, and under the crust, is part of a molten core as large as half of the Earth’s moon.

Above, Loki’s eruption is clearly visible from space.

(Information gathered from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s website, located at: http://airandspace.si.edu/ , originally obtained via NASA’s Galileo Mission: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/galileo/)