跳舞的土星极光
(原标题: The Dancing Auroras of Saturn)
2021-06-27
浏览次数: 30
是什么驱动了土星上的极光？为了找到答案，科学家们整理了卡西尼号飞船为其他目的拍摄的数百张土星红外图像，试图找到足够的极光图像来关联变化并制作电影。一些电影清楚地表明，土星的极光不仅会随着太阳的角度而变化，还会随着行星的旋转而变化。此外，一些极光的变化似乎与土星磁层的波动有关，这可能是由土星的卫星引起的。这张2007年拍摄的假彩色照片显示了土星在三个红外光波段中的表现。光环反射的是相对蓝色的阳光，而行星本身发出的是能量相对较低的红色。可见的绿色的南极光带。最近发现，极光可以加热土星的上层大气。了解土星的极光是更好地了解地球极光的途径。
查看原文解释
What drives auroras on Saturn? To help find out, scientists have sorted through hundreds of infrared images of Saturn taken by the Cassini spacecraft for other purposes, trying to find enough aurora images to correlate changes and make movies. Once made, some movies clearly show that Saturnian auroras can change not only with the angle of the Sun, but also as the planet rotates. Furthermore, some auroral changes appear related to waves in Saturn's magnetosphere likely caused by Saturn's moons. Pictured here, a false-colored image taken in 2007 shows Saturn in three bands of infrared light. The rings reflect relatively blue sunlight, while the planet itself glows in comparatively low energy red. A band of southern aurora in visible in green. In has recently been found that auroras heat Saturn's upper atmosphere. Understanding Saturn's auroras is a path toward a better understanding of Earth's auroras.