A massive hurricane, thought to have been gestating over a few years’ time, can finally be viewed in all its majesty as it rotates over Saturn’s north pole.
The super storm is enormous in scope, with an eye measuring some 1,250 miles across (20 times the size of an Earth-bound eye). It is also revolving at extreme speeds, reaching around 330 miles per hour at the edges. All of this is taking place within a strange hexagonal weather pattern.
The hurricane, uncannily similar to those on Earth in appearance, only recently came into clear view for scientists working with NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. When the craft first arrived in 2004, the north pole was sheathed in darkness due to the north polar winter. While Cassini’s infrared instruments picked up on the existence of a vortex that was developing even then, no visible-light readings could be taken until the end of the winter equinox in 2009.
Viewing the hurricane required a shift in the spacecraft’s orbits, from an equatorial loop to above and below the equatorial line. Changing Cassini’s orbit is complicated, however, executed only once every few years due to the strict guidance of NASA navigators as the craft uses flybys of Titan to shift its patterns. Planning for such shifts takes years of preparation.
Observation of the storm is being conducted in an effort to understand hurricanes here on Earth. According to Andrew Ingersoll of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and who works as part of the Cassini image team, “We did a double take when we saw this vortex because it looks so much like a hurricane on Earth.”
Hurricanes on Earth are sustained by warm ocean water. Saturn has no body of water near its high atmospheric clouds but is feeding its giant storm system with water vapors. Scientists are hoping that careful study of the Saturn storm will lead to a better understanding of how terrestrial hurricanes are both generated and sustained.
Similarities between Saturn’s hurricane and those on Earth include a central eye devoid of cloud cover or with very low clouds, high clouds constituting an eye wall, and a counter-clockwise spin in the northern hemisphere.
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Yet there are some important differences as well. The size and speed of Saturn’s storm is incongruent with those on Earth. Hurricanes on Earth also move, drifting northward in relation to outside forces and the planet’s spin. The one on Saturn is stationary; having traveled as far north as possible, it has nowhere else to go.
The Cassini craft and its onboard cameras were constructed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratories. The international imaging team includes members from the U.S., U.K., France, and Germany.
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NASA captures image of Saturn’s massive 330-mph storm – Science Recorder
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NASA captures image of Saturn"s massive 330-mph storm - Science Recorder
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