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Juno Mission Reveals Ganymede’s Auroras Share Features With Earth

lite News Desk 2 min read

At a glance

  • NASA’s Juno spacecraft observed Ganymede’s auroras in July 2021
  • Fine-scale bead-like auroral structures were detected on Ganymede
  • Ganymede is the only moon with its own magnetic field

Recent analysis of ultraviolet images from NASA’s Juno spacecraft has provided new details about auroras on Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest moon, highlighting similarities with auroral features found on Earth.

The ultraviolet spectrograph on Juno recorded bead-like structures within Ganymede’s auroras during a close flyby on July 7, 2021. These observations marked the first time such fine-scale features have been resolved on a moon outside Earth, due to the improved spatial resolution of Juno’s instruments.

Ganymede is unique among the solar system’s moons because it possesses its own intrinsic magnetic field. This magnetic field is a key factor enabling the formation of auroras, which are also observed on planets like Earth.

Earlier studies using the Hubble Space Telescope had detected ultraviolet auroral belts encircling Ganymede, but lacked the resolution to identify small-scale structures. Juno’s ultraviolet spectrograph achieved measurements at scales of just a few kilometers, allowing for the detection of these bead-like patterns.

What the numbers show

  • Juno’s flyby of Ganymede occurred on July 7, 2021
  • The study was published on January 6, 2026
  • Juno’s ultraviolet spectrograph resolved features at scales of a few kilometers

A team from the University of Liège led the analysis of Juno’s ultraviolet data, identifying the bead-like auroral structures on Ganymede. These features resemble those seen in Earth’s auroras, suggesting that similar magnetospheric processes may be present on both bodies.

The duration of Juno’s flyby was under 15 minutes, and the spacecraft is not scheduled to return to Ganymede. As a result, the frequency and variability of these bead-like auroral features on Ganymede remain undetermined.

The European Space Agency’s JUICE mission is expected to arrive at Jupiter in 2031. According to mission plans, JUICE may conduct extended studies of Ganymede’s auroras, potentially providing more data on these structures.

Findings from the Juno mission were published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics on January 6, 2026. These results expand current understanding of auroral activity on moons and highlight the role of magnetic fields in shaping such phenomena.

* This article is based on publicly available information at the time of writing.

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