Uncovering the mysteries of Jupiter's aurora

Esahubble_heic0009a_1024

esahubble_heic0009a December 14th, 2000

Credit: NASA, ESA & John T. Clarke (Univ. of Michigan)

This ultraviolet image of Jupiter was taken with the Hubble Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on 26 November 1998 and gives a good impression of the observations that Hubble will make in the weeks to come. The bright emissions above the dark blue background are auroral lights, similar to those seen above the Earth's polar regions. The aurorae are curtains of light resulting from high energy electrons following the planet's magnetic field into the upper atmosphere, where collisions with atmospheric atoms and molecules produce the observed light. On Jupiter one can normally see three different types of auroral emissions: a) a main oval, centred on the magnetic north pole b) a pattern of more diffuse emissions inside the polar cap and c) a unique auroral feature showing the 'magnetic footprints' of three of Jupiter's satellites. These 'footprints' can be seen in this image: from Io (along the left-hand limb), from Ganymede (near the centre just below the reference oval) and from Europa (just below and to the right of Ganymede's auroral footprint). These emissions are unlike anything seen on Earth and are produced by electric currents generated at the satellites that then flow along Jupiter's magnetic field, weaving in and out of its upper atmosphere. This incredibly detailed image was taken on November 26 1998 when Jupiter was at a distance of 700 million km from Earth. The image was taken in UV light at 140 nm.

Provider: Hubble Space Telescope | ESA

Image Source: https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic0009a/

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
Jupiter
Subject - Solar System
Planet > Type > Gas Giant
Planet > Feature > Atmosphere > Aurora

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue Hubble (STIS ) Ultraviolet (U) 140.0 nm
Spectrum_base
Blue
Esahubble_heic0009a_1280
×
ID
heic0009a
Subject Category
A.1.1.2   A.1.2.2.4  
Subject Name
Jupiter
Credits
NASA, ESA & John T. Clarke (Univ. of Michigan)
Release Date
2000-12-14T15:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic0009a/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
N/A - solar system
Facility
Hubble Space Telescope
Instrument
STIS
Color Assignment
Blue
Band
Ultraviolet
Bandpass
U
Central Wavelength
140
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
Equinox
Reference Value
Reference Dimension
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
heic0009a
Metadata Date
2003-12-09T17:03:44+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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