Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2024 December 8
      [2]A picture of Saturn is shown with tan clouds and light rings.
    Surrounding the north pole at the top are bright blue swirls. Please
             see the explanation for more detailed information.

                      Aurora around Saturn's North Pole
      Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]ESA, [5]Hubble, [6]OPAL Program, [7]J.
             DePasquale ([8]STScI), [9]L. Lamy ([10]Obs. Paris)

   Explanation: Are Saturn's auroras like Earth's? To help answer this
   question, the [11]Hubble Space Telescope and the [12]Cassini spacecraft
   monitored Saturn's North Pole simultaneously during [13]Cassini's final
   orbits around the gas giant in September 2017. During this time,
   [14]Saturn's tilt caused its North Pole to be [15]clearly visible from
   Earth. The [16]featured image is a composite of [17]ultraviolet images
   of auroras and optical images of Saturn's clouds and rings, all taken
   by Hubble. Like on Earth, Saturn's northern auroras can make [18]total
   or partial rings around the pole. Unlike on Earth, however,
   [19]Saturn's auroras are frequently spirals -- and more likely to
   [20]peak in brightness just before midnight and dawn. In contrast to
   [21]Jupiter's auroras, [22]Saturn's auroras appear better related to
   connecting Saturn's internal magnetic field to the nearby, variable,
   [23]solar wind. [24]Saturn's southern auroras were similarly imaged
   back in 2004 when the [25]planet's South Pole was clearly visible to
   Earth.

   Your Sky Surprise: [26]What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
                                 (post 1995)
                    Tomorrow's picture: how many sisters?
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    Authors & editors: [38]Robert Nemiroff ([39]MTU) & [40]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([41]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [42]Specific rights apply.
            [43]NASA Web Privacy, [44]Accessibility, [45]Notices;
                A service of: [46]ASD at [47]NASA / [48]GSFC,
                         [49]NASA Science Activation
                           & [50]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2412/SaturnAurora_Hubble_2215.jpg
   3. https://www.nasa.gov/
   4. http://www.esa.int/
   5. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/main/index.html
   6. https://archive.stsci.edu/prepds/opal/
   7. http://jdepasquale.com/
   8. http://www.stsci.edu/who-we-are
   9. https://www.iau.org/administration/membership/individual/16559/
  10. https://www.obspm.fr/
  11. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/overview/about-hubble/
  12. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/cassini/about-the-mission/
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170125.html
  14. https://science.nasa.gov/saturn/
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150621.html
  16. https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic1815a/
  17. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/10_ultravioletwaves
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap081119.html
  19. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetosphere_of_Saturn#Aurorae
  20. https://media.istockphoto.com/id/1097010202/photo/portrait-of-a-funny-cat-looking-out-of-the-box.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=xhduCYxVsageM8F5_Ot0JFFwB6edgD5pLHoc6gmj3bU=
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220830.html
  22. https://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1815/
  23. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_wind
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap050219.html
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap050222.html
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241207.html
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  31. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  33. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  36. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=241208
  37. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241209.html
  38. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  39. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  40. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  41. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  42. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  43. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  44. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  45. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  46. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  47. https://www.nasa.gov/
  48. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  49. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  50. http://www.mtu.edu/