April 15, 2007

Saturn Coolness

Saturn From Below
Swooping below Saturn, the Cassini spacecraft spied several strange wonders. Visible in the distance are some of the many complex rings that orbit the Solar System's second largest planet. In the foreground looms the gigantic world itself, covered with white dots that are clouds high in Saturn's thick atmosphere. Saturn's atmosphere is so thick that only clouds are visible. At the very South Pole of Saturn lies a huge vortex that is a hurricane-like storm showing no sign of dissipating. The robotic Cassini spacecraft took the above image in January from about one million kilometers out, resolving details about 50 kilometers across..
The hi-res image can be seen here.

1 comment:

Justosaurus said...

That's amazing! Saturn's always been kinda a favourite of mine, always mysteriously beautiful. especialy that weather pattern!Your probably right about about the magnetic field at work here. especially since it's been there for 26 years since Voyager first dicovered it. man you can find out anything about everything! and that's not crazy talk.