Hubble Captures Auroras On Uranus Once Again

Any travel bug would love to see the mystical auroras here on Earth, but the Hubble went on and took it one (big) step further as it captured photos of the auroras on Uranus. This means that the ball of bluish-green gas has more to offer.

According to NASA, the auroras on Uranus were first discovered by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2011. Follow-up observations then happened in 2012 and 2014 by an astronomer-led team from the Paris Observatory. The team members wanted to take a second look at the auroras with the help of ultraviolet capabilities of the Space Telescope Imaging Spectograph that was installed on the Hubble.

With this, it was found that interplanetary shocks caused by bursts of solar wind (from the Sun to Uranus) caused an effect on the auroras on Uranus. As captured by Hubble, these auroras are intense and powerful, and they rotate with the planet. Watching the auroras over time also led to another discovery -- the planet's long-lost magnetic poles, which were lost soon after they were discovered by the Voyager 2 in 1986.

Space.com noted that much like Earth's own auroras, Uranus' auroras are caused by streams that are charged with particles such as electrons, that come from different origins. Among these are the solar winds, as well as the planet's ionosphere and moon volcanism. They are then caught in magnetic fields and are channeled into the upper atmosphere where interactions with gas particles such as oxygen or nitrogen help set off bursts of light in a spectacular manner.

The auroras are not the only thing that the Hubble telescope captured in its latest mission. Newly released photos also show the Uranus ring system, which appeared to circulate the planet's poles. This is untrue, however, as like Saturn, the ring system of the icy blue planet actually orbits its equator. It is just that Uranus orbits the Sun on its side, leading astronomers to believe it was knocked off-kilter long ago.