Feb 12, 2011 09:46 GMT  ·  By
This Hubble image shows the UV component of light making up auroras on Jupiter
   This Hubble image shows the UV component of light making up auroras on Jupiter

Astronomers operating the NASA Hubble Space Telescope release a new image of the auroras around the gas giant Jupiter. These flares of ultraviolet light are in some aspects similar to ones that develop here on Earth, but experts underline that the two are different in nature.

At first, experts believed that auroras only existed here on our planet, but subsequent observations conducted in the solar system have revealed similar phenomena going on on other planets as well.

However, the mechanisms dictating how the UV light shows are formed differ between worlds. On Earth, they are produced by the interplay of charged particles emanating from the Sun (the solar wind) and the magnetosphere protecting us from them.

As the particles stream along the magnetic field lines surrounding our planet, they cause the light shows that amaze observers at both the north and south poles. But this is not the mechanism governing the creation of auroras on Jupiter, for example.

“The big picture is that on Earth the magnetosphere is controlled by the solar wind,” explains astronomer Bertrand Bonfond. He holds joint appointments, at the Universite de Liege in Belgium and at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA).

“On Jupiter, we have a magnetosphere that is not that much affected by the solar winds, but by its rapid rotation and the material expelled by the volcanic moon Io,” the investigator adds.

He goes on to say that the gas giant features auroras on both its poles, just like Earth does. The features were recently observed using Hubble's Imaging Spectrograph instrument, Space reports.

The astronomer and his study group snapped the longest sequence of images of the Jovian auroras ever. All of the photographs were taken at high resolution levels. One of the most interesting things that was discovered was that UV component in aurora light flared brighter every 2-3 minutes.

“Auroras usually appear as an oval curtain centered on the magnetic poles of the planet, but they are also composed of different features such as spots or diffuse emissions. Our study concerned some kind of spots located inside the main oval of Jupiter,” the team leader says.

The team admits that it still needs to conduct a lot of studies before it can compare the auroras developing on Earth with their counterparts on Jupiter. Details of the new study appear in the January 28 issue of the esteemed journal Geophysical Research Letters.

“The quasi-periodic behavior these flares is very similar to the one of an auroral spot on Earth. Consequently, we think that they could be related to the same phenomenon, called magnetic reconnection at the front of the magnetosphere,” Bonfond concludes.