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Lightning Sounds from Saturn
Description Here on the Gallery page you can find the very latest images, videos and products from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn, including the spectacular launch, spacecraft assembly and the exciting trip to Saturn.
Full Description This audio clip was created from radio signals received by the radio and plasma wave science instrument on the Cassini spacecraft. The bursty radio emissions were generated by lightning flashes on Saturn and are similar to the crackles and pops one hears on an AM radio during a thunderstorm on Earth. This storm on Saturn occurred on January 23 and 24, 2006. The clip compresses two hours of observations into about 28 seconds. Therefore, every second of the audio clip corresponds to about 4 minutes, 18 seconds. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radio and plasma wave science team is based at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the instrument team's home page, http://www-pw.physics.uiowa.edu/cassini/ . Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Iowa
Saturn's Radio Rotation
Description Radio waves produced near the poles of Saturn have been monitored by Cassini's Radio and Plasma Wave Science instrument (RPWS) since 2003.
Full Description Radio waves produced near the poles of Saturn have been monitored by Cassini's Radio and Plasma Wave Science instrument (RPWS) since 2003. A team of European scientists have analysed several years of Cassini RPWS data to study the variations of Saturn's radio clock, or its large fluctuations, at a 1-2 percent level, over weeks to months. They have found that the variation in the solar wind speed near Saturn is probably responsible for the poor stability of the planet's radio clock. interestingly, the solar wind speed does not vary randomly, but instead, follows a saw-tooth pattern, first building up in speed and then suddenly slowing down, and causing thus apparent rotation period fluctuations. Credits: Inset - NASA/ESA/JPL/University of Iowa/ Obs. de Paris Lesia (P. Zarka), Background - Magnetosphere: NASA, the Sun: ESA/NASA SOHO
Date December 12, 2007
Entering Saturn's Magnetosph …
Description Here on the Gallery page you can find the very latest images, videos and products from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn, including the spectacular launch, spacecraft assembly and the exciting trip to Saturn.
Full Description This graph illustrates the series of sonic booms that took place when the Cassini spacecraft crossed Saturn's bow shock. A bow shock is a shock wave located where incoming solar wind meets a planet's magnetosphere, or magnetic bubble. Differences in electrical charges cause the solar wind to curve around the magnetosphere in the same way that air flows around a supersonic airplane. The resulting turbulence is heard as a sonic boom and is represented here as an increase in wave frequency. Scientists were surprised to discover that Saturn's bow shock was located at a distance of 3 million kilometers (1.9 million miles) from Saturn, much farther out than they had predicted. Because the bow shock acts like a balloon when hit, oscillating in and out, Cassini actually crossed it several times, resulting in the seven sonic booms depicted above. Red denotes louder waves, and blue quieter. This data was taken by Cassini's radio and plasma wave science instrument. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radio and plasma wave science instrument team is based at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the instrument team's home page, http://www-pw.physics.uiowa.edu/plasma-wave/cassini/home.html . Image Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Iowa
Lightning, crackles and pops
Description Here on the Gallery page you can find the very latest images, videos and products from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn, including the spectacular launch, spacecraft assembly and the exciting trip to Saturn.
Full Description The speckles in this graph are radio signals from lightning in Saturn's atmosphere detected by Cassini. Just as one can hear lightning on an AM radio as crackles and pops, Cassini's radio and plasma wave science instrument detects Saturn lightning as bursty signals over a broad frequency range. This presentation shows the intensity of radio emissions in color as well as their frequency (vertical axis) and time (horizontal axis) on July 13, 2004. Black represents no detectable signal. The lightning emissions appear as short bursts scattered over frequencies from a few megahertz to 16 megahertz. During this time Cassini was 4.9 million kilometers (3.1 million miles) from Saturn. Saturn lightning, like Earth lightning, emits radio emissions over a very broad frequency range. The bursts seen here appear at relatively narrow frequencies. This is because it takes Cassini several seconds to sweep the entire frequency range, but the radio bursts last just a small fraction of a second. So, Cassini detects the bursts at whatever frequency it happens to be at in its sweep when a burst occurs. During the 18-hour interval represented in this display, Cassini detected two general intervals of lightning signals separated by 10 or 11 hours. During this time, Saturn rotated around its axis once - one Saturn day. So, these signals appear to be coming from the same storm system in the atmosphere which lasted for at least a Saturn day. However, the appearance of the radio emissions is quite different after one day, indicating the storm system is evolving on this time scale. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radio and plasma wave science team is based at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the instrument team's home page, http://www-pw.physics.uiowa.edu/plasma-wave/cassini/home.html . Image Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Iowa
Detecting Lightning From Sat …
Description Detecting Lightning From Saturn
Full Description This artist concept shows how Cassini is able to detect radio signals from lightning on Saturn. Lightning strokes emit electromagnetic energy across a broad range of wavelengths, including the visual wavelengths we see and long radio wavelengths that cause static on an AM radio during a thunderstorm. Some of the radio waves propagate upwards and can be detected at long distances by the radio and plasma wave science instrument on Cassini. One barrier to the radio waves, however, is Saturn's ionosphere, a hot, ionized layer above the atmosphere that can block low frequency radio waves. The low frequency waves are either reflected or absorbed by the ionosphere. The higher frequency waves can pass right through the ionosphere, however, and subsequently be detected by Cassini. By measuring the lowest frequencies that can be detected by Cassini, scientists can determine the density of Saturn's ionosphere. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radio and plasma wave science team is based at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the instrument team's home page, http://www-pw.physics.uiowa.edu/plasma-wave/cassini/home.html . Image Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Iowa
Lightning Sounds from Saturn …
PIA02166
Sol (our sun)
Radio and Plasma Wave Scienc …
Title Lightning Sounds from Saturn (Audio)
Original Caption Released with Image "" Click on the image for Lightning Sounds from Saturn This audio clip was created from radio signals received by the radio and plasma wave science instrument on the Cassini spacecraft. The bursty radio emissions were generated by lightning flashes on Saturn and are similar to the crackles and pops one hears on an AM radio during a thunderstorm on Earth. This storm on Saturn occurred on January 23 and 24, 2006. The clip compresses two hours of observations into about 28 seconds. Therefore, every second of the audio clip corresponds to about 4 minutes, 18 seconds. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radio and plasma wave science team is based at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm [ http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov ] and the instrument team's home page, http://www-pw.physics.uiowa.edu/cassini/ [ http://www-pw.physics.uiowa.edu/cassini/ ].
Lightning Sounds from Saturn …
PIA02166
Sol (our sun)
Radio and Plasma Wave Scienc …
Title Lightning Sounds from Saturn (Audio)
Original Caption Released with Image "" Click on the image for Lightning Sounds from Saturn This audio clip was created from radio signals received by the radio and plasma wave science instrument on the Cassini spacecraft. The bursty radio emissions were generated by lightning flashes on Saturn and are similar to the crackles and pops one hears on an AM radio during a thunderstorm on Earth. This storm on Saturn occurred on January 23 and 24, 2006. The clip compresses two hours of observations into about 28 seconds. Therefore, every second of the audio clip corresponds to about 4 minutes, 18 seconds. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radio and plasma wave science team is based at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm [ http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov ] and the instrument team's home page, http://www-pw.physics.uiowa.edu/cassini/ [ http://www-pw.physics.uiowa.edu/cassini/ ].
Entering Saturn's Magnetosph …
PIA06347
Sol (our sun)
Radio and Plasma Wave Scienc …
Title Entering Saturn's Magnetosphere with a Boom
Original Caption Released with Image This graph illustrates the series of sonic booms that took place when the Cassini spacecraft crossed Saturn's bow shock. A bow shock is a shock wave located where incoming solar wind meets a planet's magnetosphere, or magnetic bubble. Differences in electrical charges cause the solar wind to curve around the magnetosphere in the same way that air flows around a supersonic airplane. The resulting turbulence is heard as a sonic boom and is represented here as an increase in wave frequency. Scientists were surprised to discover that Saturn's bow shock was located at a distance of 3 million kilometers (1.9 million miles) from Saturn, much farther out than they had predicted. Because the bow shock acts like a balloon when hit, oscillating in and out, Cassini actually crossed it several times, resulting in the seven sonic booms depicted above. Red denotes louder waves, and blue quieter. This data was taken by Cassini's radio and plasma wave science instrument. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radio and plasma wave science instrument team is based at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. For more information, about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit, http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov [ http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] and the instrument team's home page, http://www-pw.physics.uiowa.edu/plasma-wave/cassini/home.html/ [ http://www-pw.physics.uiowa.edu/plasma-wave/cassini/home.html/ ].
Lightning, Crackles and Pops
PIA06417
Sol (our sun)
Radio and Plasma Wave Scienc …
Title Lightning, Crackles and Pops
Original Caption Released with Image Figure 1 The speckles in this graph are radio signals from lightning in Saturn's atmosphere detected by Cassini. Just as one can hear lightning on an AM radio as crackles and pops, Cassini's radio and plasma wave science instrument detects Saturn lightning as bursty signals over a broad frequency range. This presentation shows the intensity of radio emissions in color as well as their frequency (vertical axis) and time (horizontal axis) on July 13, 2004. Black represents no detectable signal. The lightning emissions appear as short bursts scattered over frequencies from a few megahertz to 16 megahertz. During this time Cassini was 4.9 million kilometers (3.1 million miles) from Saturn. Saturn lightning, like Earth lightning, emits radio emissions over a very broad frequency range. The bursts seen here appear at relatively narrow frequencies. This is because it takes Cassini several seconds to sweep the entire frequency range, but the radio bursts last just a small fraction of a second. So, Cassini detects the bursts at whatever frequency it happens to be at in its sweep when a burst occurs. During the 18-hour interval represented in this display, Cassini detected two general intervals of lightning signals separated by 10 or 11 hours. During this time, Saturn rotated around its axis once -- one Saturn day. So, these signals appear to be coming from the same storm system in the atmosphere which lasted for at least a Saturn day. However, the appearance of the radio emissions is quite different after one day, indicating the storm system is evolving on this time scale. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radio and plasma wave science team is based at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov [ http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov ] and the instrument team's home page, http://www-pw.physics.uiowa.edu/plasma-wave/cassini/home.html [ http://www-pw.physics.uiowa.edu/plasma-wave/cassini/home.html ].
Lightning, Crackles and Pops
PIA06417
Sol (our sun)
Radio and Plasma Wave Scienc …
Title Lightning, Crackles and Pops
Original Caption Released with Image Figure 1 The speckles in this graph are radio signals from lightning in Saturn's atmosphere detected by Cassini. Just as one can hear lightning on an AM radio as crackles and pops, Cassini's radio and plasma wave science instrument detects Saturn lightning as bursty signals over a broad frequency range. This presentation shows the intensity of radio emissions in color as well as their frequency (vertical axis) and time (horizontal axis) on July 13, 2004. Black represents no detectable signal. The lightning emissions appear as short bursts scattered over frequencies from a few megahertz to 16 megahertz. During this time Cassini was 4.9 million kilometers (3.1 million miles) from Saturn. Saturn lightning, like Earth lightning, emits radio emissions over a very broad frequency range. The bursts seen here appear at relatively narrow frequencies. This is because it takes Cassini several seconds to sweep the entire frequency range, but the radio bursts last just a small fraction of a second. So, Cassini detects the bursts at whatever frequency it happens to be at in its sweep when a burst occurs. During the 18-hour interval represented in this display, Cassini detected two general intervals of lightning signals separated by 10 or 11 hours. During this time, Saturn rotated around its axis once -- one Saturn day. So, these signals appear to be coming from the same storm system in the atmosphere which lasted for at least a Saturn day. However, the appearance of the radio emissions is quite different after one day, indicating the storm system is evolving on this time scale. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radio and plasma wave science team is based at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov [ http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov ] and the instrument team's home page, http://www-pw.physics.uiowa.edu/plasma-wave/cassini/home.html [ http://www-pw.physics.uiowa.edu/plasma-wave/cassini/home.html ].
Detecting Lightning From Sat …
PIA06414
Sol (our sun)
Radio and Plasma Wave Scienc …
Title Detecting Lightning From Saturn
Original Caption Released with Image This artist concept shows how Cassini is able to detect radio signals from lightning on Saturn. Lightning strokes emit electromagnetic energy across a broad range of wavelengths, including the visual wavelengths we see and long radio wavelengths that cause static on an AM radio during a thunderstorm. Some of the radio waves propagate upwards and can be detected at long distances by the radio and plasma wave science instrument on Cassini. One barrier to the radio waves, however, is Saturn's ionosphere, a hot, ionized layer above the atmosphere that can block low frequency radio waves. The low frequency waves are either reflected or absorbed by the ionosphere. The higher frequency waves can pass right through the ionosphere, however, and subsequently be detected by Cassini. By measuring the lowest frequencies that can be detected by Cassini, scientists can determine the density of Saturn's ionosphere. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radio and plasma wave science team is based at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov [ http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov ] and the instrument team's home page, http://www-pw.physics.uiowa.edu/plasma-wave/cassini/home.html [ http://www-pw.physics.uiowa.edu/plasma-wave/cassini/home.html ].
1-11 of 11