(Viewed 3,633 times)

[patrickm]

m.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/09/video-saturn-aurora/

Note the little green halo at the pole.



From Wired.com

Saturn’s aurora shimmers and shines over the course of two full days in a new movie and images from Cassini orbiter. In an ongoing study compiling thousands of these images, scientists are beginning to decipher what drives the celestial light show.

Much like Earth’s northern and southern lights, Saturn’s aurora is triggered when charged particles from solar winds are channeled toward the poles by the planet’s magnetic field. At the poles, these particles interact with charged gas or plasma in the upper atmosphere and emit light. Saturn’s aurora can also be caused by electromagnetic waves generated when its moons move through its magnetosphere.