Stunning pictures show Saturn’s mesmerizing auroras

Earth’s northern lights and auroras were already mesmerizing enough for us, but recently released photos of Saturn’s northern lights are beautiful enough to challenge Earth’s auroras.

Newly released photos captured by the Hubble Space Telescope gives a break taking view of our ringed planet Saturn’s northern auroras flickering in space.

As per the European Space Agency (ESA), the pictures captured in ultraviolet light are ‘the most comprehensive pictures so far of Saturn’s northern aurora’ and have also never been observed before.

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Earth’s auroras are created when charged particles from the sun crash into our atmosphere, which in turn excites neutral particles and causes a colorful glow. Though Saturn’s auroras are too influenced by the sun, they appear to be very different than those seen on Earth, reported Mashable.

“Because the atmosphere of each of the four outer planets in the Solar System is — unlike the Earth — dominated by hydrogen, Saturn’s auroras can only be seen in ultraviolet wavelengths — a part of the electromagnetic spectrum which can only be studied from space," the ESA said.

With these images, new information comes forward about the gas giant’s auroras such as they peak in brightness at dawn, but also at pre-midnight. Where auroras on Earth stretch upward till around 100km-500km into the atmosphere, auroras on Saturn can reach heights of over 1,200km.

Auroras, also called the northern lights, are caused by magnetic particles moving down toward the poles and then interacting with molecules of nitrogen and oxygen which transform the sky into bright bands of green, red and violet lights.

Moreover, as per CBC News, apart from Saturn and Earth, other planets including Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune also get to experience this spectacular phenomenon of northern and southern lights.