Aurora Activity on Planet Uranus | Hubble Space Telescope

Aurora Activity on Planet Uranus | Hubble Space Telescope

This Hubble image shows Uranus and dynamic aurora activity on October 10, 2022. The planet is dominated by a blue hue and a large white region in the lower left. A faint ring is also visible around the planet. Fuzzy blue/purple regions hovering over the planet on the left and ride indicate the presence of aurorae.

This visual shows three panels that each show Uranus and dynamic aurora activity. The images were captured in October 2022 on the 8th, 10, and 24th respectively. Each image shows a planet with a strong blue hue and a visible white region. A faint ring is also visible around the planet in each image. Each image shows fuzzy blue/purple regions hovering over the planet in distinct locations to indicate the aurorae.

These images of Uranus’ aurorae was taken by the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope in October 2022. These observations were made by the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) and includes visible and ultraviolet data.

An international team of astronomers used Hubble to make new measurements of Uranus' interior rotation rate by analyzing more than a decade of the telescope’s observations of Uranus’ aurorae. This refinement of the planet’s rotation period achieved a level of accuracy 1,000 times greater than previous estimates and serves as a crucial new reference point for future planetary research.

Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA, L. Lamy, L. Sromovsky
Release Date: April 7, 2025

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Sun #SolarWind #SolarSystem #Planets #Planet #Uranus #Atmosphere #Aurora #Aurorae #Universe #HST #HubbleSpaceTelescope #STIS #Ultraviolet #VisibleLight #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education