Abstract
As Cassini made its approach to Saturn in early 2004, it monitored the solar wind heading for the planet and radio emission from the planet’s auroral activity while the Hubble Space Telescope took imagery of the ultraviolet emission. Large gusts in the solar wind on 17 and 25 January changed both the aurora and the radio emission. As viewed from space, an auroral display is a ring of light around a magnetic pole that is emitted by atoms and molecules that are excited by the electrons that flow in the magnetic field. In the case of Earth the emission is mostly from oxygen atoms and nitrogen molecules, but on Saturn it is from atomic and molecular hydrogen.
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Further Reading
Cassini at Saturn: Huygens Results David M. Harland, Springer-Praxis, 2007
Titan Unveiled Ralph Lorenz and Jacqueline Mitton, Princeton University Press, 2007
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© 2008 Praxis Publishing Ltd.
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Harland, D.M. (2008). Report from the Ringed Planet.... In: Harland, D.M., Harvey, B. (eds) Space Exploration 2008. Springer Praxis Books. Praxis. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-73997-7_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-73997-7_14
Publisher Name: Praxis
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