APOD: 2026 August 5 Б Spokes on Saturn's B Ring
Explanation:
DonБt get spooked by SaturnБs ghostly spokes! Today we feature a nearly two-hour timelapse of Saturn and its rings looping forwards and backwards. A day on Saturn is only 10 hours long,
so two hours of observation covers quite a bit of its rotation. If you look closely, a ghoulish shadow appears and disappears as
SaturnБs B ring
rotates. Decades of observation with
Voyager 2,
Cassini, and
Hubble
show the appearance of SaturnБs spokes varies with
the planetБs seasons.
Like Earth, SaturnБs
spin axis
is tilted compared to the plane of its orbit around the Sun. During SaturnБs
equinox,
the rings are
less tilted
away from the Sun and the planet receives more evenly distributed sunlight and
solar wind.
Although their origin is still uncertain, SaturnБs spokes may be shadows of and reflections off of
dust and ice levitating above the rings caused by
electromagnetic
interactions between the solar wind and the planetБs magnetic field.
Find dark skies and look up this August to witness
the Perseid meteor shower
uninhibited by the Moon!
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.
