Aurora over Jupiters South Pole from Juno
Explanation:
Why is there a glowing oval over Jupiter's South Pole?
Aurora.
Near the closest part of its first pass near
Jupiter in August, NASA's
robotic
spacecraft
Juno captured
this
dramatic infrared image of a bright
auroral ring.
Auroras are caused by high energy particles from the Sun interacting with a planet's
magnetic field, and
ovals around
magnetic poles are common.
Data from
Juno
are giving preliminary indications that
Jupiter's magnetic field and aurorae are unexpectedly
powerful and
complex.
Unfortunately, a computer
glitch caused Juno to go into
safe
mode during its last pass near the Jovian giant in September.
That glitch has now been resolved, making
Juno ready for its next pass over Jupiter's cloud tops this coming Sunday.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
