Hubble views aurora on ringed planet.Corralled by Earth's magnetic field Earth's magnetic field (and the surface magnetic field) is approximately a magnetic dipole, with one pole near the north pole (see Magnetic North Pole) and the other near the geographic south pole (see Magnetic South Pole). , the sun's wind of charged particles crashes into atmospheric molecules at the poles, creating the dazzling display of colors known as an aurora. Now, the Hubble Space Telescope Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the first large optical orbiting observatory. Built from 1978 to 1990 at a cost of $1.5 billion, the HST (named for astronomer E. P. Hubble) was expected to provide the clearest view yet obtained of the universe. has taken the first image of Saturn's aurora, some 2,000 kilometers above the cloud tops near the north and south poles North and South Poles figurative ends of the earth. [Geography: Misc.] See : Remoteness of the ringed planet. Unlike the terrestrial light show, Saturn's lies in the far-ultraviolet, a set of wavelengths absorbed by Earth's atmosphere. Because Saturn's magnetic pole aligns nearly perfectly with the planet's axis of rotation Noun 1. axis of rotation - the center around which something rotates axis mechanism - device consisting of a piece of machinery; has moving parts that perform some function , the auroral "ring" is centered directly on the pole. |
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