|
Collection:
|
|
NASA Hubble Space Telescope Collection
Collection
NASA Hubble Space Telescope Collection
Collection
|
|
Title:
|
|
Hubble Observes A New Saturn Storm
Title
Hubble Observes A New Saturn Storm
Title
|
|
Object Name:
|
|
Saturn
Object_Name
Saturn
Object Name
|
|
Acknowledgement:
|
Acknowledgement
Acknowledgement
|
|
Fast Facts:
|
|
|
|
note:
|
|
*Image Type:*: Astronomical
note
*Image Type:*: Astronomical
note
|
|
note:
|
|
*Release Date*:December 21, 1994 12:00 AM (EST)
note
*Release Date*:December 21, 1994 12:00 AM (EST)
note
|
|
note:
|
|
*News Release Number:*: STScI-1994-53a
note
*News Release Number:*: STScI-1994-53a
note
|
|
note:
|
|
*Title*:Hubble Observes A New Saturn Storm
note
*Title*:Hubble Observes A New Saturn Storm
note
|
|
note:
|
|
*Description*:
This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image of the ringed planet Saturn shows a rare storm that appears as a white arrowhead-shaped feature near the planet's equator. The storm is generated by an upwelling of warmer air, similar to a terrestrial thunderhead. The east-west extent of this storm is equal to the diameter of the Earth (about 7,900 miles). Hubble provides new details about the effects of Saturn's prevailing winds on the storm. The new image shows that the storm's motion and size have changed little since its discovery in September, 1994.
The storm was imaged with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) in the wide field mode on December 1, 1994, when Saturn was 904 million miles from the Earth. The picture is a composite of images taken through different color filters within a 6 minute interval to create a "true-color" rendition of the planet. The blue fringe on the right limb of the planet is an artifact of image processing used to compensate for the rotation of the planet between exposures.
The Hubble images are sharp enough to reveal that Saturn's prevailing winds shape a dark "wedge" that eats into the western (left) side of the bright central cloud. The planet's strongest eastward winds (clocked at 1,000 miles per hour from analysis of Voyager spacecraft images taken in 1980-81) are at the latitude of the wedge.
To the north of this arrowhead-shaped feature, the winds decrease so that the storm center is moving eastward relative to the local flow. The clouds expanding north of the storm are swept westward by the winds at higher latitudes. The strong winds near the latitude of the dark wedge blow over the northern part of the storm, creating a secondary disturbance that generates the faint white clouds to the east (right) of the storm center.
The storm's white clouds are ammonia ice crystals that form when an upward flow of warmer gases shoves its way through Saturn's frigid cloud tops. This current storm is larger than the white clouds associated with minor storms that have been reported more frequently as bright cloud features.
Hubble observed a similar, though larger, storm in September 1990, which was one of three major Saturn storms seen over the past two centuries. Although these events were separated by about 57 years (approximately 2 Saturnian years) there is yet no explanation why they apparently follow a cycle — occurring when it is summer in Saturn's northern hemisphere.
note
*Description*:
This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image of the ringed planet Saturn shows a rare storm that appears as a white arrowhead-shaped feature near the planet's equator. The storm is generated by an upwelling of warmer air, similar to a terrestrial thunderhead. The east-west extent of this storm is equal to the diameter of the Earth (about 7,900 miles). Hubble provides new details about the effects of Saturn's prevailing winds on the storm. The new image shows that the storm's motion and size have changed little since its discovery in September, 1994.
The storm was imaged with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) in the wide field mode on December 1, 1994, when Saturn was 904 million miles from the Earth. The picture is a composite of images taken through different color filters within a 6 minute interval to create a "true-color" rendition of the planet. The blue fringe on the right limb of the planet is an artifact of image processing used to compensate for the rotation of the planet between exposures.
The Hubble images are sharp enough to reveal that Saturn's prevailing winds shape a dark "wedge" that eats into the western (left) side of the bright central cloud. The planet's strongest eastward winds (clocked at 1,000 miles per hour from analysis of Voyager spacecraft images taken in 1980-81) are at the latitude of the wedge.
To the north of this arrowhead-shaped feature, the winds decrease so that the storm center is moving eastward relative to the local flow. The clouds expanding north of the storm are swept westward by the winds at higher latitudes. The strong winds near the latitude of the dark wedge blow over the northern part of the storm, creating a secondary disturbance that generates the faint white clouds to the east (right) of the storm center.
The storm's white clouds are ammonia ice crystals that form when an upward flow of warmer gases shoves its way through Saturn's frigid cloud tops. This current storm is larger than the white clouds associated with minor storms that have been reported more frequently as bright cloud features.
Hubble observed a similar, though larger, storm in September 1990, which was one of three major Saturn storms seen over the past two centuries. Although these events were separated by about 57 years (approximately 2 Saturnian years) there is yet no explanation why they apparently follow a cycle — occurring when it is summer in Saturn's northern hemisphere.
note
|
|
facet_what:
|
|
Earth
facet_what
Earth
facet_what
|
|
facet_what:
|
|
Camera 2
facet_what
Camera 2
facet_what
|
|
facet_what:
|
|
Voyager
facet_what
Voyager
facet_what
|
|
facet_what:
|
|
Wide Field Planetary Camera 2
facet_what
Wide Field Planetary Camera 2
facet_what
|
|
facet_what:
|
|
Saturn
facet_what
Saturn
facet_what
|
|
facet_what:
|
|
Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
facet_what
Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
facet_what
|
|
facet_where:
|
|
Saturn
facet_where
Saturn
facet_where
|
|
facet_where:
|
|
New Mexico
facet_where
New Mexico
facet_where
|
|
facet_when:
|
|
1980
facet_when
1980
facet_when
|
|
facet_when:
|
|
December 21, 1994
facet_when
December 21, 1994
facet_when
|
|
facet_when:
|
|
September, 1994
facet_when
September, 1994
facet_when
|
|
facet_when:
|
|
December 1, 1994
facet_when
December 1, 1994
facet_when
|
|
facet_when:
|
|
September 1990
facet_when
September 1990
facet_when
|
|
facet_when_year:
|
|
1990
facet_when_year
1990
facet_when_year
|
|
facet_when_year:
|
|
1980
facet_when_year
1980
facet_when_year
|
|
facet_when_year:
|
|
1994
facet_when_year
1994
facet_when_year
|
|
UID:
|
|
SPD-HUBBLE-STScI-199 4-53a
UID
SPD-HUBBLE-STScI-199 4-53a
UID
|
|
original url:
|
original_url
original url
|
|
Release Date:
|
|
December 21, 1994 12:00 AM (EST)
Release_Date
December 21, 1994 12:00 AM (EST)
Release Date
|
