A collective of astrophysicists examined images of auroras on Ganymede, captured by the Juno probe. They revealed that the structure of the glows, resembling chains of spots, is similar to Earth’s “pearls,” indicating shared physical mechanisms operating across different celestial bodies.
Astrophysicists from Belgium’s University of Liège uncovered a surprising resemblance between the polar lights on Earth and on Ganymede—Jupiter’s most massive moon. It is also the only satellite in the Solar System possessing its own magnetic field. Scientists performed an analysis of data from the ultraviolet spectrograph aboard the “Juno” probe, which flew over Ganymede on July 7, 2021.
On Earth, auroras appear when the solar wind collides with the planet’s magnetic field, causing particles to be ejected into the atmosphere. On Ganymede, the interaction with Jupiter’s magnetosphere proceeds quite similarly to Earth’s with the solar wind. This interaction generates glows within its thin oxygen atmosphere.
Such formations are termed “pearls”; they have been observed in the auroras of Earth and Jupiter. Experts link them to substorms and morning storms, meaning powerful reorganizations of the magnetosphere that release vast amounts of energy and produce intense polar activity…
The discovery of this analogy allowed researchers to conclude that fundamental physical processes are common to all celestial bodies, their magnetospheres, and external forces.
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