Friday, October 1, 2010
APOD 1.5
This is a photo of an aurora on Saturn. Scientists have been tirelessly working to try to find out what causes these auroras on Saturn. They have been looking through hundreds of infrared images that were taken by the Cassini spacecraft and trying to compile enough photos of the auroras to make a movie. Some of these movies have shown that these auroras on Saturn can change with the angle of the Sun and as the planet rotates. They have also found that some changes in the aurora are related to waves in the planet's magnetosphere which is most likely a result of Saturn's moons. This particular photo was taken in 2007 and is falsely colored. Nonetheless, it shows Saturn in three bands of infrared light. The rings are reflecting blue sunlight while the planet is glowing in a red lower energy. The green represents the band of southern aurora.
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