Saturn Rotates
Explanation:
The dramatic rotation of the cloud-tops of
Saturn
every ten-hours is particularly
evident from orbit around the gas giant planet.
With a good enough telescope, however, such rotation
is visible even from Earth, as shown by
this time-lapse image
sequence from the
Hubble Space Telescope
taken in November 1990.
Particularly evident at that time was a
light-colored giant storm cloud system that
completely encircled the planet.
The storm was not evident twenty years ago
during the flybys of the
Voyager spacecraft
-- a storm of this
magnitude was last noted in 1933.
Studying the
complex atmosphere
of Saturn will be one objective of the
Cassini spacecraft
launched by NASA in
1997 and expected to arrive in 2004.
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.
