The Aurorae on Saturn
![](https://cdn.sci.esa.int/documents/34247/35306/1567219842569-i_screenimage_15849.jpg)
Depicts: Saturn
Copyright: J.T. Trauger (JPL), J.T. Clarke (Univ. of Michigan), the WFPC2science team, and NASA
The aurora is produced as trapped charged particles precipitating from the magnetosphere collide with atmospheric gases -- molecular and atomic hydrogen in Saturn's case. As a result of the bombardment, Saturn's gases glow at far-ultraviolet wavelengths (110-160 nanometers) which are absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere, and so can only be observed from space-based telescopes.
Last Update: 1 September 2019