October 18, 1996
Your birthday marks the moment a small planet circling a modest star gained another witness to its wonders.
Jupiter's Auroras Credit:
Birthday · October 18, 1996
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APOD published October 18, 1996. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Auroras are especially large on Jupiter. In pictures released yesterday, the Hubble Space Telescope imaged these unusual light displays in more detail than ever before. Jupiter's auroras are linked to its volcanic moon Io. Io's volcanoes release particles, some of which become ionized, trapped by Jupiter's magnetic field, and rain down on the gas giant. The resulting auroral displays may be thousands of times brighter than any auroral display on Earth, and involve unusual spots. The above pictures show how the extended auroral emissions rotate with Jupiter, while the auroral spots stay synchronized to Io as it circles Jupiter.