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Aurorae borealis and australis on Jupiter

auteur: Nasa/Novapix

référence: a-jup02-80002

Image Size 300 DPI: 18 * 19 cm

Images taken in ultraviolet light by the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph show both auroras, the oval-
shaped objects in the inset photos. Jupiter's auroral images are superimposed on a Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 image of the entire planet. The auroras are brilliant curtains of light in Jupiter's upper atmosphere. Jovian auroral storms, like Earth's, develop when electrically charged particles trapped in the magnetic field surrounding the planet spiral inward at high energies toward the north and south magnetic poles. When these particles hit the upper atmosphere, they excite atoms and molecules there, causing them to glow. The images were taken Sept. 20, 1997.

Keywords for this photo:

1997 - ASTRONOMY - AURORA - AURORA AUSTRALIS - AURORA BOREALIS - COMPOSITE - HST - HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - JUPITER - MAGNETIC FIELD - PLANET - ULTRAVIOLET - UV - WIDE FIELD PLANETARY CAMERA -