Hitting a Magazine Trif ecta

Standing in a row, they look prim, proper and more than a little abashed, like three Palm Beach socialites turning up in the same Pucci. In their January issues, the Smithsonian, Scientific American and National Geographic all appeared with cover photos showing a volcano erupting on Jupiter's moon lo. Though having look-alike covers is an editor's nightmare that all too frequently comes true, the science magazines' trifecta was an interplanetary long shot. The picture is a computer composite of images radioed to earth by Voyager 1 last March. The three monthlies (total circ. 12,750,000) all sent their covers to press many weeks ago, and the editors say they are not in a lava over the coincidence. Says the Smithsonian's Don Moser: "It just confirms our good judgment." Confirmation does not end at home: China's Ziran Zazhi (Nature) magazine also ran the same cover--on its December issue.

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