Electrical link lights bright spot in Saturn’s atmosphere

By Simon Levey Scientists studying Saturn have detected a glowing patch of ultraviolet light that marks the presence of an electrical circuit connecting the planet with its moon Enceladus, they report today . Long theorized, but not previously seen, the newly discovered bright patch indicates that electrically charged particles travel between Saturn and Enceladus, interacting with the planet's magnetic field lines. This makes a glowing patch near the planet's north pole, caused by a similar phenomenon to the northern and southern lights (or aurora) on Earth. The new observation comes from Cassini, a NASA spacecraft that has been in orbit around Saturn since 2004, and is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. Scientists at Imperial College London made the discovery along with Cassini colleagues from the United States and Europe. "This is an important revelation about the link between the tiny moon Enceladus and its parent planet Saturn. It also yields more information about the giant gas-planet's surprising magnetic field, which is yet to be fully understood even after Cassini's 7 years in orbit," said Professor Michele Dougherty from the Department of Physics at Imperial College London, who leads Cassini's magnetometer team.