Ideas, Inventions And Innovations New Research Reveals Secret To Jupiter’s Curious Aurora Activity Auroral displays continue to intrigue scientists, whether the bright lights shine over Earth or over another planet. The lights hold clues to the makeup of a planet’s magnetic field and how that field operates. New research about Jupiter proves that point — and adds to the intrigue. Credit: NASA Peter Delamere, a professor of space physics at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, is among an international team of 13 researchers who have made a key discovery related to the aurora of our solar system’s largest planet.