News Planetary Science

Spying Saturn’s Light Show: Anomalous aurora dazzles scientists

By Ron Cowen

- More than 2 years ago

Among the solar system’s auroras, the dancing lights that paint Saturn’s skies show a distinct style.

RING AND FIRE. Ultraviolet emissions from an aurora at Saturn’s south pole, recorded by a Hubble detector, are superimposed on a visible-light image of the planet. Clarke, et al., NASA, STScI

Three reports in the Feb. 17 Nature describe a choreographed experiment conducted 13 months ago, in which the Earth-orbiting Hubble Space Telescope and the Cassini spacecraft, then en route to Saturn, both examined Saturn’s south pole.