Just as NASA’s Juno spacecraft is within days of reaching Jupiter, the Hubble Space Telescope captured a stunning image of aurora in Jupiter’s north pole.
Here on Earth we experience aurorae — the northern or southern lights — as a result of the sun’s particles interacting with our magnetic field. The aurorae on Jupiter are produced in the same way, as the magnetic field interacts with particles travelling along the solar wind. However, Jupiter also captures these charged particles from one of its moons, Io, that has volcanoes spewing electrically charged particles into space.
READ MORE: Why do we get the northern lights?
Jupiter, the biggest planet in our solar system, has an extremely powerful magnetic field — about 10 times stronger than Earth’s. This allows it produce aurorae — that never stop — hundreds of times more powerful than those seen on Earth.
“These auroras are very dramatic and among the most active I have ever seen,” said Jonathan Nichols from the University of Leicester, U.K., and principal investigator of the study.
“It almost seems as if Jupiter is throwing a firework party for the imminent arrival of Juno.”
READ MORE: Juno’s mission to Jupiter: 7 weird and wonderful facts about this giant planet
The image was captured in May by Hubble using far-ultraviolet light observations, while the full-colour image of Jupiter was taken separately.
Juno will arrive at Jupiter on July 4. The mission has several goals, one of which is to study Jupiter’s powerful magnetic field and intense radiation.
WATCH: Jupiter: Into the Unknown (NASA Juno Mission Trailer)