New observations of the ringed planet show dramatic auroral
activity occurs when the planet’s magnetotail collapses
Just like Earth, Saturn has a “tail” - a magnetic one to be
precise, formed from a trail of electrified gas from the Sun which flows out in
the planet’s wake.
What’s more, scientists have long suspected that this
“magnetotail” is responsible for dramatic auroral activity on the ringed planet
– in a very similar way to a process which happens here on Earth.