Although slightly blurry, this image offers exceptional resolution, at the limit of the theoretical capabilities of the telescope used. The SHARK–VIEWinstalled on the right mirror of Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) located on Mount Graham in Arizona, it allowed us to distinguish features on Io’s surface separated by only 80 km. To make you an ideait’s like being able to spot a dime a 200 km of distance! This spatial precision it had until now only been reached by space probes sent near Jupiter.
The technology behind the Io image
The SHARK-VIS it is managed by a team led by Principal Investigator Fernando Pedichini of INAF in Rome. Together with the SHARK-VIS, its counterpart operates SHARK–NIRled by a team from INAF in Padua, which works in the near infrared band and is installed on the left mirror of the Large Binocular Telescope. These tools work together to deliver images of unprecedented quality.
A step forward in astronomy
This extraordinary image of Io represents a significant step forward for astronomy, demonstrating the potential of terrestrial instruments in the observation of the solar system. The possibility of obtaining such detailed images from Earth opens new perspectives for the study of celestial bodies without necessarily having to send space probes.
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