NASA Hubble Telescope Images: Saturn's Auroras

Credit: Jonathan Nichols, NASA, ESA, University of Leicester

>Saturn's ultraviolet auroras are visible over each pole in this image obtained in 2009 using the Advanced Camera for Surveys on board the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.

Saturn's aurora, a ghostly ultraviolet glow that illuminates the gas giant's upper atmosphere near the poles, has a heartbeat that pulses in tandem with the planet's radio emissions, scientists have discovered.

The pulsing auroras on Saturn occur about once every 11 Earth hours or so – the length of one day on the ringed planet, researchers found.

"This is an important discovery for two reasons," said study leader Jonathan Nichols of the University of Leicester in England. "First, it provides a long-suspected but hitherto missing link between the radio and auroral emissions, and second, it adds a critical tool in diagnosing the cause of Saturn's irregular heartbeat."