Cassini probe gets close views of large Saturn hurricane (w/ video)

phys.org...

"We did a double take when we saw this vortex because it looks so much like a hurricane on Earth," said Andrew Ingersoll, a Cassini imaging team member at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. "But there it is at Saturn, on a much larger scale, and it is somehow getting by on the small amounts of water vapor in Saturn's hydrogen atmosphere."

Not the red spot of Jupiter yet very impressive when viewed in false color image from Cassini

That's a great representation. It really gives you a sense of the 3 dimensions of the storm.

I thought this attempt at explaining its location was funny:

"The polar hurricane has nowhere else to go, and that's likely why it's stuck at the pole,"

...it's not stuck ON a pole, it's simply AT the pole.

Actually, I cannot confirm or deny the existence of an enormous pole, the diameter of earth, running through the center of Saturn..

In all seriousness though, I've always been perplexed by this hexagonal anomaly

the hexagon still buffles me... i don't get it...

This is a beautifull sight, looks nasty though. Almost looks like its a fire hurricane or something

The eye of the cyclone is an enormous 2,010 kilometers across. That's 20 times larger than the typical eye of a hurricane here on Earth.

from here


I would say mother nature is awesome, but can she reach this far?

The hurricane kinda looks like the eye in your avatar

Wow the Cassini prob has been viewing it for 9 years! Must be important.

It's an entrance to Inner Saturn.
Every pole of a rotating planet has this characteristic.
When I heard him say the initial "we have been following this hexagon that surrounds the north pole" I've LOL.
They really must think we are all stupid to think the satellite imagery would not record the TRUE entrance...So they wait 9 years, and suddenly, they can see a "storm" there...
NASA - Never a Straight Answer.

reply to post by 727Sky


Upon seeing this video, my first inclination was that the material the "Hurricane" is rotating consists of a ferrofluid (iron particles suspended in a liquid), and it is fixed due to EM fields generated by its atmosphere. The result would be a fixed "Hurricane" held at the weakest part of the field, and could even explain the counter rotation in respect to the movement of equatorial weather...

reply to post by 727Sky


Spectacular!!

I love the gas giants, their size boggles the mind

One thing I've never understood about these photos NASA releases, why FALSE color??

Thanks for sharing, love it!

S&F

Breath taking.

But what really captures my imagination is the fact it appears the storm, which takes up a substantial portion of the northern hemisphere of Saturn, is spinning counter to the rotation of the planet, which is also highly gaseous. Can you image the energy required!!!!!!

Really amazing,

The explanation about the storm having nowhere else to go is basically just to say that the storm is locked in that location because of the rotational dynamics of the planets atmosphere. The atmosphere rotates pretty much all in the same direction, (direct rotation) this is clearly evident at the pole where you have something that it manifests as a vortex heading into the pole. There is a similar feature at both poles, but what is really interesting here is that hexagon.

I suspect it is formed by convective cells but it is amazing that it is so big. Could be also related to the magnetic field lines...

and on the other post above....

Suggesting hollow planets up there? why? why? why?

reply to post by ErosA433

Could be also related to the magnetic field lines...

No doubt there is a possibility that the field lines play some role but how much I have not heard.

I am glad those who posted enjoyed and got to see the article and vid.

reply to post by 727Sky


When they said North pole, good sir, it was an automatic, "They don't know." sign to me.

I know what is there, sir, it's a hole. Go on the other side, the South Pole, and you'll see the same thing, a hole.

A hole to where? In this case, Hollow Saturn.

Wish thee well.

Originally posted by ahybrid
reply to post by 727Sky

 

Upon seeing this video, my first inclination was that the material the "Hurricane" is rotating consists of a ferrofluid (iron particles suspended in a liquid), and it is fixed due to EM fields generated by its atmosphere. The result would be a fixed "Hurricane" held at the weakest part of the field, and could even explain the counter rotation in respect to the movement of equatorial weather...

I like this idea, its creative and its outside the box and plausible. Star for you sir.

I am not totally sure why people cant really conceptualize that if you make a sphere rotate, and the atmosphere above that sphere rotate too, that at the poles you naturally end up with a vortex like rotation.

The reason we do not see it on [edit] removed venus [edit] Earth, or Mars is because of the energy input of the sun is large enough to disrupt the atmosphere, the sea and land masses produce convective cells that are able to overcome the general spin of the rock beneath, ie, the atmosphere rotates with the Earth, but it moves around relatively freely. Unlike the Gas giants which infact produce themselves more power than they get from the Sun via gravitational collapse. For an object the size of Jupiter or Saturn, the atmosphere rotates around the planet once every... 12-15 hours (from a quick googling)... this is very fast so without the sun adding an enormous amount of energy to disrupt that, how else can you get weather patterns on Jupiter and Saturn without it forming band like structures, and a vortex at either pole? (Yes and i am aware that Jupiter has differential rotation, the same still applies)

[EDIT] There are apparently Vortexes on Venus at each pole, most likely the above doesn't quite fit but given the general density and pressure of the atmosphere on Venus, it could too 'overcome' the general weather systems generated by the sun

So... they dont know? but you do know? Well sorry but if NASA don't know what they are doing or seeing according to you... then sorry Sir but you know even less

Originally posted by CitizenJack

Originally posted by ahybrid
reply to post by 727Sky

 

Upon seeing this video, my first inclination was that the material the "Hurricane" is rotating consists of a ferrofluid (iron particles suspended in a liquid), and it is fixed due to EM fields generated by its atmosphere. The result would be a fixed "Hurricane" held at the weakest part of the field, and could even explain the counter rotation in respect to the movement of equatorial weather...

I like this idea, its creative and its outside the box and plausible. Star for you sir.

Yes, this is a very good idea!

[edit] check out this page - scientists recreated the hexagon shape in the lab
www.planetary.org...


The wonderful thing about large objects like Jupiter and Saturn is that they feature some of the extremities of matter and behaviour of objects in large gravitational fields. One of which has always amazed me is orbital resonances.

reply to post by ahybrid


does that explain the hexagon too?

the hexagon is very unnatural for a typical cyclone but since its directly over the pole and hasn't budged I'd say the EM field has something to do with it.

Originally posted by Alda1981
the hexagon still buffles me... i don't get it...

It is Cymatics . Cymatics (from Greek: κῦμα "wave") is the study of visible sound and vibration, a subset of modal phenomena. Typically the surface of a plate, diaphragm, or membrane is vibrated, and regions of maximum and minimum displacement are made visible in a thin coating of particles, paste, or liquid.[1] Different patterns emerge in the excitatory medium depending on the geometry of the plate and the driving frequency.
_ Wiki

reply to post by Shadow Herder


Neat vids thanks. I remember growing up and believing (when 7 years old) that in my life time we would have maned vehicles traversing the solar system with our eyes on the stars. Man was I wrong, unless some of the more outlandish hidden black projects we have all seen posted around here are true. Either way what a waste of priorities for we are still earth bound except for the space station we have to hitch a ride to get there and missions like Casimi.