SPATIALLY RESOLVED M-BAND EMISSION FROM IO’S LOKI PATERA–FIZEAU IMAGING AT THE 22.8 m LBT

Abstract

The Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer mid-infrared camera, LMIRcam, imaged Io on the night of 2013 December 24 UT and detected strong M-band (4.8 m) thermal emission arising from Loki Patera. The 22.8 m baseline of the Large Binocular Telescope provides an angular resolution of 32 mas (100 km at Io) resolving the Loki Patera emission into two distinct maxima originating from different regions within Loki's horseshoe lava lake. This observation is consistent with the presence of a high-temperature source observed in previous studies combined with an independent peak arising from cooling crust from recent resurfacing. The deconvolved images also reveal 15 other emission sites on the visible hemisphere of Io including two previously unidentified hot spots.