Hubble films twin auroras on Saturn
A rare glimpse of a flickering light show over both poles of the planet Saturn has been captured by the Hubble Space Telescope.
Scientists managed to take snapshots of an unusual edge-on view of Saturn's rings during a recent equinox to record unique images of the giant planet's northern and southern lights at the same time. A blue glow can be distinctly seen dancing above Saturn's north and south pole and the rare footage has revealed slight differences between the auroras.
11-Feb-2010:
Researchers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope recently took advantage of a rare opportunity to record Saturn when its rings are edge-on, resulting in a unique movie featuring both of the giant planet's poles. Saturn is only in this position every 15 years and this favourable orientation has allowed a sustained study of Saturn’s almost symmetric northern and southern lights.
Saturn Rare Double Aurorae
Magnetosphere of Saturn
The magnetosphere of Saturn is the cavity created in the flow of the solar wind by the planet's internally generated magnetic field. Discovered in 1979 by the Pioneer 11 spacecraft, Saturn's magnetosphere is the second largest of any planet in the Solar System after Jupiter.
[...]
Aurorae
Saturn has relatively bright polar aurorae, which in the ultraviolet and near infrared light look like bright continuous circles (ovals) surrounding its poles at the latitude of 73–78°.Unlike Jupiter's, the Saturn's ovals are not related to the breakdown of the co–rotation of the plasma in the outer parts of the planet's magnetosphere The aurorae on Saturn are thought to connected to the reconnection of the magnetic filed under the influence of the Solar wind (Dungey cycle,) which drives an upward current (about 10 million amperes) from the ionosphere and leads to the acceleration and precipitation of energetic (1–10 kev) electrons into the polar thermosphere of Saturn The saturnian aurorae are more similar to those of the Earth, where they are also Solar wind driven The ovals themselves correspond to the boundaries between open and closed magnetic field lines—so called polar caps, which are located at the distance of 10–15° from the poles
- Hubble films twin auroras on Saturn - Telegraph
- Saturn's aurorae offer stunning double show
- YouTube - Saturn Rare Double Aurorae
- Magnetosphere of Saturn - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Related:
- Saturn's aurorae offer stunning double show (w/ Video)
- Saturn's aurora offer stunning double show
- See Saturn's twin light shows - Cosmic Log - msnbc.com
- Hubble telescope films Saturn's eerie twin aurorae | Mail Online
