Written by Amira Shehata Thursday, December 28, 2023 09:00 PM NASA’s Galileo spacecraft discovered the aurora borealis on Ganymede, the largest moon of Jupiter, on this day, December 28, 2000, as the “Galileo” spacecraft was launched in 1989 in A mission to study Jupiter And its moons also flew near Venus and Earth on their way there.
According to the “space” website, the spacecraft flew near Ganymede several times while it was in orbit around Jupiter. During this particular flyby, it was searching for the aurora borealis.
Ganymede was in Jupiter’s shadow at the time, which made it easier for Galileo to see the faint aurora because there was no sunlight, so Galileo was in the right place at the right time, and successfully observed the aurora on the Moon.
The spacecraft has also made other amazing discoveries about Ganymede, such as the fact that it has a magnetic field.
No other moon was known to have a magnetic field at the time, and Galileo even found evidence of an ocean of liquid salt water beneath the moon’s crust and a thin atmosphere.
