A rather remarkable storm on Saturn's south pole, as imaged by Cassini: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm The short time-lapse sequence is fascinating. Be sure to click on the press release link for even more images and information. Can someone on the list with knowledge of fluid dynamics or meteorology exlplain why the central "eye" is football-shaped instead of circular, as on earth? Or is this an unexplained Saturnian mystery? Thanks to Patrick for calling this one to our attention via his "News". ____________________________________________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta. http://new.mail.yahoo.com
Looks like a giant toilet flush. I wonder if the center is as far below the surface as it appears to be. Or is that just an optical illusion? On Nov 11, 2006, at 1:10 PM, Chuck Hards wrote:
A rather remarkable storm on Saturn's south pole, as imaged by Cassini:
LOL... I'll never be able to look at Saturn again, without a chuckle. --- Michael Carnes <MichaelCarnes@earthlink.net> wrote:
Looks like a giant toilet flush.
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--- Michael Carnes <MichaelCarnes@earthlink.net> wrote: <snip all>
Looks like a giant toilet flush.
One of the cooler things about this hobby is every so often you get up in the morning, check your inbox and something amazingly unexpected is discovered. A giant circumpolar hurricane many times the size of the Earth hiding on the south pole of Saturn. Who would have thunk it. -:) Gotta wonder how long it has been there. - Kurt "In space no one can you xxxxscreamxxx _flush_." ____________________________________________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta. http://new.mail.yahoo.com
Saturn's south pole is currently tipped toward earth, and the dark circle of the storm is clearly visible in ground-based photos as a "bull's-eye" dead-center on the polar hood. You can see it in a photo taken with an 11" SCT on the S&T Website. I wonder if the spot could be detected visually in a large Newtonian? I can easily see the polar hood in my 6" and 10" Newts, but no detail within. Anybody with a 20" or larger care to get up early in the next few days and take a stab at it? ____________________________________________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta. http://new.mail.yahoo.com
--- Michael Carnes <MichaelCarnes@earthlink.net> wrote:
I wonder if the center is as far below the surface as it appears to be. Or is that just an optical illusion?
The NASA JPL press release says its a real hurricane wall - 30 to 75 kilometers deep - and that that is what is unique about the storm. Jupiter's Great Red Spot and other Jupiter storms do not have true vertical hurricane walls like occur on Earth. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2006-137 - Kurt ____________________________________________________________________________________ Want to start your own business? Learn how on Yahoo! Small Business. http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/r-index
participants (3)
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Canopus56 -
Chuck Hards -
Michael Carnes