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Aurora borealis, along with its southern twin, aurora australis, ranks among the most breathtaking natural occurrences on Earth—but this spectacular display isn't confined to our planet. The European Space Agency and NASA have recently released images showing electric-blue rings glowing around Saturn’s northern pole, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope.
On Earth, auroras are produced when solar electrons collide with oxygen and nitrogen in the atmosphere, transferring energy to the gas molecules. These gases then emit the energy as photons, or light particles, forming colorful waves in the sky. The Earth's magnetic field enhances this effect, making auroras visible at the poles, where the magnetic field is strongest.
This phenomenon also occurs on Saturn, located 746 million miles away, with a key difference: Saturn’s atmosphere is mostly hydrogen, which makes its auroras predominantly visible in ultraviolet light. These captivating images of Saturn's lights were captured using UV light over seven months in 2017. Other gas giants in our solar system—Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune—also feature their own polar light displays.
Astronomers found that Saturn's northern lights reach their peak twice during its brief 11-hour day: once at dawn and again just before midnight. You can watch a time-lapse of the images below.
