Wednesday, July 6, 2011

30 Year Storm on Saturn


Absolutely FASCINATING - think they might need some Armor Glass (PLUS) protection on Saturn?

"The luminous storm, which may be the gaseous planet's main mechanism for dissipating heat, occurs about once every Saturnian year, the equivalent of about 30 Earth years. The storms, however, do not follow a precise schedule. The latest round, the most intense on record, was first noticed by ground-based professional and amateur astronomers as a bright speck on Saturn's northern hemisphere on Dec. 5, about nine years before schedule. The previous storm occurred in 1990."

"Great White Spots are 10 times larger than normal storms on Saturn and are about 10,000 times stronger than those on Earth. They occur seasonally due to changes in how much sunlight reaches Saturn. Scientists still don't fully understand the interplay between solar energy and Saturn's internal stores in generating these storms."

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please give us your thoughts. Stay on topic and be civil or it can be deleted.