APOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
An Auroral Ring on Jupiter
Explanation: Do other planets have aurora? Terrestrial and spacecraft observations have found evidence for aurora on Venus , Mars , Jupiter , Saturn , Uranus , and Neptune . In the above false-color photograph , a good portion of an auroral ring was captured recently in optical light by the Galileo spacecraft in orbit around Jupiter . Auroral rings encircle a planet's magnetic pole, and result from charged particles spiraling down magnetic field lines. Although the surroundings near Jupiter are much different than Earth , the auroral rings appear similar.
| Date | June 9, 1997 |
|---|---|
| Credit | Credit: Galileo Project, JPL, NASA |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |



