Saturns Aurora
by Science Source
Title
Saturns Aurora
Artist
Science Source
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured images of the dancing auroral lights at Saturn's north pole. Taken from Hubble's perspective in orbit around the Earth, these images provide a detailed look at Saturn's stormy aurorae, revealing previously unseen dynamics in the choreography of the auroral glow. The cause of the changing patterns in Saturn's aurorae is an ongoing mystery in planetary science. These ultraviolet images, taken by Hubble's super-sensitive Advanced Camera for Surveys, add new insight by capturing moments when Saturn's magnetic field is affected by bursts of particles streaming out from the Sun. Saturn has a long, comet-like magnetic tail known as a magnetotail, a feature present around planets that have a magnetic field, caused by a rotating core of magnetic elements. It appears that when bursts of particles from the Sun hit Saturn, the planet's magnetotail collapses and later reconfigures itself, an event that is reflected in the dynamics of its aurorae.
Uploaded
March 27th, 2017
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