Gigantic Storm With Huge Tail Erupts on Saturn: (pics)

An enormous storm has erupted in Saturn’s northern hemisphere. Amateurs first sighted the storm earlier this month, but the Cassini spacecraft moved into a good position on Dec. 24 to photograph it from about 1.1 million miles away. Earth received the raw and unprocessed shots today.

The storm has a huge central funnel and a long tail that sweeps around Saturn’s northern hemisphere for tens of thousands of miles. A shot in blue light (left) reveals the extent of the tail, but infrared light (right) shows detail of the storm’s amorphous core. The photos were taken exactly a month after Cassini recovered from a solar-flare-induced error that temporarily silenced the spacecraft from Nov. 2 through Nov. 24.

Source: www.wired.com...

additional info:
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/14ec890eb285.jpg[/atsimg]

The photo is unprocessed, or raw, as astronomers described it. "This storm had been sighted by the amateurs in recent weeks, but Cassini was finally in a position to take a splendid series of pictures of it," said Cassini imaging team leader Carolyn Porco. "And what a storm it is!". Cassini launched in 1997 and arrived at Saturn in 2004. It has been imaging Saturn ever since.

Source: wwww.space.com...

Mark it up to thank God we have the ability to observe and document such events for history sakes.

Can you imagine the size of this storm. Simple mind boggling for us here on the planet Earth. As I always say, I wish I could be the feet on the ground when out boys (and girls) start landing on there places and experiecing the planets wonder.

Sorry not much else on it yet. Just out.

reply to post by anon72


So.....another planet in our solar system is experiencing a disrupted weather pattern in it's northern hemisphere.What a coincidence...

Is anybody keeping an eye on the other planets and their northern hemispheres??

Thanks for posting this information Anon.

Peace

reply to post by anon72


HEY SATURN you spilled something on your self.

reply to post by operation mindcrime


I wouldn't say there are any disruptions to the weather on Saturn, big storms are normal it's just most of the time we don't see them.

Originally posted by Chadwickus
reply to post by operation mindcrime

 

I wouldn't say there are any disruptions to the weather on Saturn, big storms are normal it's just most of the time we don't see them.

We, as in the public doesn't see them.??
But I take it, NASA or whoever sees them.?

reply to post by backinblack


If they occur on the right side of the planet and aren't obscured by clouds, then yes we as in normal people can see them, you'll need a telescope though.

Storm from April:

www.jpl.nasa.gov...

With the help of amateur astronomers, the composite infrared spectrometer instrument aboard NASA's Cassini spacecraft has taken its first look at a massive blizzard in Saturn's atmosphere. The instrument collected the most detailed data to date of temperatures and gas distribution in that planet's storms.

The data showed a large, turbulent storm, dredging up loads of material from the deep atmosphere and covering an area at least five times larger than the biggest blizzard in this year's Washington, D.C.-area storm front nicknamed "Snowmageddon."

"We were so excited to get a heads-up from the amateurs," said Gordon Bjoraker, a composite infrared spectrometer team member based at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

Another article from 2008:

www.universetoday.com...

You seeing a theme here btw?

reply to post by Chadwickus

You seeing a theme here btw?

No, I just see a flippin big storm,
What's the theme?

reply to post by backinblack


Amateur astronomers were the first ones to spot the storm in the OP article as well as the one back in April.

Originally posted by Chadwickus
reply to post by backinblack

 

Amateur astronomers were the first ones to spot the storm in the OP article as well as the one back in April.

Ahh, lol...About the only bit I didn't notice..
Damn those winds are fast. 1800klm/h...

reply to post by backinblack


Makes me wonder if we could substain life there.

I would think one of these storms would wipe a place off the map.

good find OP.
That is one heck of a storm.

Originally posted by Chadwickus
reply to post by backinblack

 

Amateur astronomers were the first ones to spot the storm in the OP article as well as the one back in April.

governments need to stop wasting money on NASA and give it to amateur astronomers.

reply to post by Atlantien


You can only do so much from down here on earth though....

Did you see the images Cassini took of it?

reply to post by Chadwickus


These are the pics from NASA. Here are the credits from the OP article.

Images: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Are there others that are out now? Please put them up or post the link. I looked but didn't find any. I am sure there are more.

Originally posted by anon72
reply to post by backinblack

 

Makes me wonder if we could substain life there.

I would think one of these storms would wipe a place off the map.

I don't think that's even an option..
More like one of the moons...

reply to post by backinblack


Why wouldn't being on Saturn be an option?

Do yo mean do to the bad weather conditions etc?

reply to post by anon72


Saturn is a giant ball of poisonous (to us) gas, with wind speeds of up to 1800km/h...

Not too sure how well we'd go trying to visit there.

reply to post by Chadwickus


Well, that would explain it then. One learns something everyday here on ATS.

Thank you.

PS:
Okay, which moon would be best to go to first-if any?

Any gas we can harvest? If so, we'll find a way to get there, get it, and get it back.

reply to post by anon72


Titan is definitely the pick of the bunch.

It has it's own atmosphere and even liquid on the surface.

Some interesting information here too:

en.wikipedia.org...

You can peruse The raw photos from Cassini here:
saturn.jpl.nasa.gov...

They show the latest 500, of recent received images.

but you can see earlier ones by picking certain targets..Like a moon, or the Rings...etc..

Thanks for the Weather Alert!