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Astronomy Image of the Day

An Auroral Ring on Jupiter

09 June 1997

Author not provided

NASA Astronomy Image of the Day for 09 June 1997

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.

Image and explanation courtesy of NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day