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Complex structure within Saturn's infrared aurora
DOI: 10.1038/nature07440 Bibcode: 2008Natur.456..214S

Drossart, Pierre; Dougherty, Michele K.; Bunce, Emma J. +14 more

The majority of planetary aurorae are produced by electrical currents flowing between the ionosphere and the magnetosphere which accelerate energetic charged particles that hit the upper atmosphere. At Saturn, these processes collisionally excite hydrogen, causing ultraviolet emission, and ionize the hydrogen, leading to H3+

2008 Nature
Cassini 38