Saturn Hurricane
Explanation:
Acquiring its first sunlit views
of far northern
Saturn late last year, the
Cassini spacecraft's narrow-angle camera recorded this stunning image of
the vortex at the ringed planet's north pole.
The false color, near-infrared image
results in red hues for low
clouds and green for high ones, causing the north-polar hurricane to take
on the appearance of a rose.
Enormous by terrestrial hurricane standards, this storm's eye is
about 2,000 kilometers wide, with clouds at the outer edge
traveling at over 500 kilometers per hour.
The north pole Saturn hurricane swirls inside the large,
six-sided weather pattern
known as the hexagon.
Of course, in 2006 Cassini also imaged the hurricane at
Saturn's south pole.
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.
