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As the magnetosphere
sweeps around Io's orbit it accelerates the charged particles to high velocity. As a result,
a doughnut shaped region around the orbit of Io becomes filled with a hot ionized gas (a plasma).
This region, which is illustrated in the above figure,
is called the Io Plasma Torus. This
animation illustrates the Plasma Torus and the Flux Tube that is described in the adjacent box.