Beneath the South Pole of Saturn
Explanation:
What clouds lurk beneath Saturn's unusual South Pole?
To help find out, the
robotic Cassini spacecraft
currently orbiting
Saturn
imaged the nether region of the gigantic ringed orb in
infrared
light.
There thick clouds appear dark as they mask much of the infrared light emitted from
warmer regions below, while relatively thin clouds appear much lighter.
Bands
of clouds circle Saturn at several latitudes, while dark ovals indicate many
dark swirling storm systems.
Surprisingly, a haze of upper level clouds visible towards Saturn's equator disappears
near the pole, including over Saturn's
strange polar vortex.
Cassini entered orbit around Saturn in 2004, and recorded the
above image
last year.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
