How the Northern Lights Link Earth to Jupiter

Explore the fascinating connections between Earth's Northern Lights and planetary phenomena throughout the solar system in this 53-minute lecture by planetary scientist Marina Galand from The Royal Institution. Discover how auroral displays reveal crucial insights about the interaction between celestial bodies and their space environments, from Earth's magnetic shield responding to solar activity to the auroral ovals surrounding Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon. Learn how these auroral phenomena provide evidence for subsurface oceans of salty water on Ganymede, representing a significant breakthrough in the search for potentially habitable worlds. Delve into the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission and its cutting-edge technology designed to observe magnetic fields induced by electric currents in subsurface oceans through processes first identified by Michael Faraday. Gain understanding of how state-of-the-art modeling techniques combined with multi-instrument space mission observations optimize scientific discoveries across planets, moons, and comets throughout the Solar System and beyond, while exploring the broader implications for atmospheric studies and the search for life beyond Earth.