Aurora on Saturn. Coloured ultraviolet image showing an aurora near the north pole of Saturn. The aurora is the bright patch at the top of the planet. Scientists estimate the aurora to extend about 2000 kilometres above the cloud tops of Saturn. The aurora is formed when charged cosmic particles are trapped by the planet's magnetic field and collide with atmospheric gases (molecular and atomic hydrogen). These collisions cause the gas to glow at far-UV wavelengths,between 110 nanometres and 160 nanometres. This image was made using the Hubble Space Telescope when Saturn was 1.3 billion kilometres from Earth | |
Lizenzart: | Lizenzpflichtig |
Credit: | Science Photo Library / J.TRAUGER, JPL / STSCI / ESA / NASA |
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