Jupiter’s & Earth’s Auroras: Similarities And Great Differences

Juno discovered electric potentials as high as 400,000 volts, aligned with the magnetic field over Jupiter’s main aurora.

Potentials like these power the Earth’s most intense aurora. On Jupiter, the potentials are many times stronger, as seen in these Earth-like inverted V’s, but still do not cause the very brightest aurora.

The source of Jupiter’s most intense aurora remains a mystery.

Credit: Mauk et al., (2017), Nature, doi:10.1038/nature23648

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