Hubble provides clear images of Saturn's aurora

Esahubble_opo9805a_1024

esahubble_opo9805a January 7th, 1998

Credit: J.T. Trauger (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and NASA/ESA

This is the first image of Saturn's ultraviolet aurora taken by the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on board the Hubble Space Telescope in October 1997, when Saturn was a distance of 810 million miles (1.3 billion kilometers) from Earth. The new instrument, used as a camera, provides more than ten times the sensitivity of previous Hubble instruments in the ultraviolet. STIS images reveal exquisite detail never before seen in the spectacular auroral curtains of light that encircle Saturn s north and south poles and rise more than a thousand miles above the cloud tops.

Provider: Hubble Space Telescope | ESA

Image Source: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/opo9805a/

Curator: ESA/Hubble, Garching bei München, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Saturn
Subject - Solar System
Planet > Type > Gas Giant

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red Hubble (STIS ) Optical (H) -
Blue Hubble (STIS ) Optical (H2) -
Esahubble_opo9805a_1280
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ID
opo9805a
Subject Category
A.1.1.2  
Subject Name
Saturn
Credits
J.T. Trauger (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and NASA/ESA
Release Date
1998-01-07T06:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/opo9805a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
N/A
Facility
Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope
Instrument
STIS , STIS
Color Assignment
Red, Blue
Band
Optical, Optical
Bandpass
H, H2
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
Equinox
Reference Value
Reference Dimension
935.0, 932.0
Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
Quality
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
ESA/Hubble
URL
http://www.spacetelescope.org/
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2
City
Garching bei München
State/Province
Postal Code
D-85748
Country
Germany
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Publisher
ESA/Hubble
Publisher ID
esahubble
Resource ID
opo9805a
Metadata Date
2003-12-09T17:50:20+01:00
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

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