![]() ![]() I was amazed to hear the whooshing as the lava lake churned away, to smell and taste the acrid gases escaping from the lava, and to feel the blast of heat from the molten rock. This is a churning, spitting, cauldron of molten rock. This volcano has a very rare volcanic feature, an active lava lake, which in 2009 was about 55 m in diameter. In August the temperature was over 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius). In 2009 I traveled to the hottest place on Earth, the Afar region of Ethiopia. What have been some favorite moments in your career so far? I have a fond memory of sitting on the edge of the crater late one evening, watching the lake perform and just enjoying the spectacle. It is also a perfectly mesmerizing sight, as the lava roils away under a thin crust, and occasionally lava fountains form, which are quite a sight (especially at night). The Erta’Ale lava lake in particular is likely a great analogue for some volcanic features on Io. Both volcanoes have an active lava lake at their summits. On Earth, it's probably a toss-up between Erebus in Antarctica and Erta’Ale in Ethiopia. The lake was very active, and it was a spectacular sight. When the pilot found out we were volcanologists he gave us a grand tour, standing the plane almost on its wingtip as we circled low over the Kupaianaha lava lake. Lionel Wilson) and he hired a light plane for an overflight of the volcano. The first volcano I saw actually in eruption was Kilauea volcano, Hawai’i. ![]() What was it like the first time you witnessed a volcano erupt? ![]() I now consider myself to be an Io expert-I have even written the definitive book on Io's volcanoes. I'm still at it, studying the extraordinary volcanoes on Io and also those on Earth. I finally ended up at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in 1994 as a post-doctoral associate, studying Io's volcanoes, and then I was on the Galileo science team. Lionel, especially was (and still is) at the forefront of mathematical volcanology, uncovering the secrets of volcanic eruptions through an understanding of the underlying physics. I was lucky to be mentored by Professors Lionel Wilson and Harry Pinkerton. at Lancaster University in the United Kingdom, where I studied volcanoes on Io and how they might erupt. My final year project examined volcanoes on Earth and Mars. I worked hard as an undergraduate, and focused more on geology, which was new to me, but which I found fascinating. My love of astronomy has stayed with me all my life, and kept me focused on my studies through high school. Helens erupted-and showed how even the mainland United States was vulnerable to volcanic eruptions. The second interesting event was the following year, when Mount St. I knew about Io, I'd seen it through my telescope, but the fact that it had active, erupting volcanoes was wonderful to me-the conventional wisdom of the time said all of these outer solar system moons were inert, dead ice balls. The first thing that fired my imagination regarding planetary science was in 1979, when the NASA Voyager spacecraft discovered active volcanoes on Io, one of the moons of Jupiter. At the time, I had no idea how these would shape my life and lead me to where I am today. Two events took place that had a great effect on me. ![]() I got interested in planetary science, volcanoes in particular, when I was in high school in England. How did you end up working in the space program? ![]()
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