The Dancing Auroras of Saturn
Explanation:
What drives auroras on Saturn?
To help find out, scientists have sorted through hundreds of infrared images of
Saturn taken
by the
Cassini spacecraft for other purposes, trying to find enough aurora images to
correlate changes and make
movies.
Once made, some movies clearly show that
Saturnian auroras can change not only with the angle
of the Sun, but also as the planet rotates.
Furthermore, some auroral changes appear related to waves in Saturn's
magnetosphere likely caused
by Saturn's moons.
Pictured here,
a false-colored image taken in 2007 shows Saturn in three bands of
infrared light.
The
rings reflect relatively blue sunlight,
while the planet itself glows in
comparatively low energy
red.
A band of
southern aurora in visible in green.
In has recently been found that auroras
heat Saturn's upper atmosphere.
Understanding Saturn's auroras is a path toward a better understanding of
Earth's auroras.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
