Dark Beads and Star Arms in Saturn’s Upper Atmosphere (VIDEO)

Northumbria University

Caption

This video shows how the structures observed in Saturn’s ionosphere and stratosphere relate to one another. Starting with the aurora at 1100 km, the brightness is increased to reveal the dark bead-like features. The video then fades into the star-arm shapes within the underlying 600 km layer. The darkest beads in the ionosphere appear to line up with the strongest arm underneath it, but it is not clear if this is co-incidental, or if it suggests coupling between Saturn’s lowest and highest layers of the atmosphere.

Credit

Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/Stallard et al 2025.

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