Dark Auroral Oval on Saturn Discovered in Hubble Space Telescope Ultraviolet Images

Hubble Space Telescope ultraviolet images of Saturn obtained with the Faint Object Camera near 220 nanometers reveal a dark oval encircling the north magnetic pole of the planet. The opacity has an equivalent width of ∼11° in latitude and is centered around ∼79°N. The oval shape of the dark structur...

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Published inScience (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 269; no. 5226; pp. 951 - 953
Main Authors Ben Jaffel, Lotfi, Leers, Véronique, Sandel, Bill R.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Washington, DC American Society for the Advancement of Science 18.08.1995
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Subjects
Aerosols
Astronomy
Auroras
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
Hubble Space Telescope
Magnetic polarity
Neutral atmospheres
Observations
Planetary, asteroid, and satellite characteristics and properties
Planets
Planets, their satellites and rings. Asteroids
Polar caps
Polar regions
Reflectance
Saturn
Saturn (Planet)
Solar system
Ultraviolet reflection
Wavelengths
Planetary atmospheres
Auroral oval
Saturn planet
Ultraviolet radiation
Images
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Summary:Hubble Space Telescope ultraviolet images of Saturn obtained with the Faint Object Camera near 220 nanometers reveal a dark oval encircling the north magnetic pole of the planet. The opacity has an equivalent width of ∼11° in latitude and is centered around ∼79°N. The oval shape of the dark structure and its coincidence with the aurora detected by the Voyager Ultraviolet Spectrometer suggest that the aerosol formation is related to the auroral activity.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
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ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.269.5226.951