Colossal Glow On Saturn Wows, Video

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Colossal Glow On Saturn Wows, Video

Scientists first observed Saturn’s auroras in 1979. Decades later, these shimmering ribbons of light still fascinate.

Watch the video to see an edge-on view of Saturn’s northern and southern lights courtesy of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.

Video courtesy of NASA/ESA/University of Leicester/J. Nichols

For one thing they’re magnificently tall, rising hundreds of miles above the planet’s poles. And unlike on Earth where bright displays fizzle after only a few hours, auroras on Saturn can shine for days.

Radiant bands form rings above Saturn’s southern polar region in this false-color image.

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False-color image courtesy of NASA/JPL/University of Colorado

Auroras are produced when speeding particles accelerated by the sun’s energy collide with gases in a planet’s atmosphere. The gases fluoresce, emitting flashes of light at different wavelengths.

Saturn’s auroras put on a dazzling display of light.

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Credit: NASA/ESA/STScI/A. Schaller

Auroras are colored green in these infrared views of Saturn.

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Infrared image courtesy of NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/University of Leicester

Hubble took these images of Saturn’s auroras over a period of five days.

Hubble image courtesy of NASA/ESA/J. Clarke, Boston University/Z. Levay, STScI

Contacts and sources:

Paul Gabrielsen

NASA/GSFC