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Earth-sized aurora on Jupiter

Posted by in Space | Today's Image | July 3, 2016

NASA released this image as the Juno spacecraft arrived at Jupiter.

Image via NASA

View larger. | Aurora on Jupiter. Image via NASA, ESA, and J. Nichols (University of Leicester)

NASA released this stunning image of a Jupiter aurora on July 1, 2016, just days before the Juno spacecraft arrives at Jupiter after a 5-year voyage. The Hubble Space Telescope acquired the imagery back on May 19, as part of a program to study how the solar wind affects auroras on Jupiter. NASA said:

While Hubble is observing and measuring the auroras on Jupiter, Juno [has been] measuring the properties of the solar wind itself; a perfect collaboration between a telescope and a space probe.

Read more from NASA about this image and the vivid auroras on Jupiter

Deborah Byrd

Deborah Byrd

Deborah Byrd created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Today, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of this website. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.

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