How is the Auroral Discharge Powered?

The Aurora

Page 29
The magnetosphere has a complicated internal structure, consisting of the Van Allen belts, the plasma sheet, and the magnetotail. The Van Allen belts were discovered by University of Iowa Professor Van Allen, the first triumph of the U.S. space exploration. Auroral scientists have learned that the magnetized planets, such as Jupiter and Saturn, have an aurora, while the nonmagnetized planets, such as Venus and Mars, do not have an aurora.
p8.jpg (28049 bytes) Click for a closeup view
Professor Van Allen, Time Magazine, May 4, 1959		 p9.jpg (32030 bytes)
There is no aurora on Venus

 

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