A Raging Storm System on Saturn
Explanation:
It is one of the largest and longest lived storms ever recorded in our Solar System.
First seen late last year, the
above cloud formation in the northern hemisphere of Saturn started larger than
the Earth and
soon spread completely around the planet.
The storm has been tracked not only
from Earth but from
up close by the robotic
Cassini spacecraft currently orbiting Saturn.
Pictured above in false colored infrared in February, orange colors indicate
clouds deep in the atmosphere, while light colors highlight
clouds higher up.
The
rings of Saturn are seen nearly edge-on as the thin blue horizontal line.
The warped dark bands are the
shadows of the rings cast onto the cloud tops by the
Sun to the upper left.
A source of radio noise from
lightning, the
intense storm may relate to seasonal changes as spring
slowly emerges in the north of Saturn.
Fun Quiz:
Celestial or Cellular -- can you tell the difference?
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.
