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> Aurorae on Saturn
Aurorae on Saturn
author: Nasa/Novapix
reference: a-sat02-00004
Image Size 300 DPI: 19 * 19 cm
Image taken with the Hubble Space Telescope in October 1997, when Saturn was a distance of 810 million miles (1.3 billion kilometers) from Earth. Spectacular auroral curtains of light encircles Saturn's north and south poles and rise more than a thousand miles above the cloud tops.
Saturn's auroral displays are caused by an energetic wind from the Sun that sweeps over the planet, much like the Earth's aurora that is occasionally seen in the nighttime sky. But unlike the Earth, Saturn's aurora is only seen in ultraviolet light that is invisible from the Earth's surface, hence the aurora can only be observed from space.
Saturn's auroral displays are caused by an energetic wind from the Sun that sweeps over the planet, much like the Earth's aurora that is occasionally seen in the nighttime sky. But unlike the Earth, Saturn's aurora is only seen in ultraviolet light that is invisible from the Earth's surface, hence the aurora can only be observed from space.
Keywords for this photo:
1997 - ASTRONOMY - AURORA - AURORA AUSTRALIS - AURORA BOREALIS - HST - HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - MAGNETIC FIELD - PLANET - RING - SATURN - ULTRAVIOLET - UV -
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