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APOD: A Long Storm System on Saturn (2019 Sep 15)
Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 4:10 am
by APOD Robot
A Long Storm System on Saturn
Explanation: It was one of the largest and longest lived storms ever recorded in our Solar System. First seen in late 2010, the
above cloud formation in the northern hemisphere of
Saturn started larger than the Earth and
soon spread completely around the planet. The storm was tracked not only
from Earth but from
up close by the robotic
Cassini spacecraft currently orbiting Saturn.
Pictured here in false colored infrared in February, orange colors indicate
clouds deep in the atmosphere, while light colors highlight clouds higher up. The
rings of Saturn are seen nearly edge-on as the thin blue horizontal line. The warped dark bands are the
shadows of the rings cast onto the cloud tops by the Sun to the upper left. A source of radio noise from
lightning, the
intense storm was thought to relate to seasonal changes when spring
emerges in the north of
Saturn. After raging for over six months, the
iconic storm circled the entire planet and then tried to absorb its own tail -- which surprisingly caused it to
fade away.
Re: APOD: A Long Storm System on Saturn (2019 Sep 15)
Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 4:15 am
by Scabulus
Uh, isn't the Cassini spacecraft kaput?
Re: APOD: A Long Storm System on Saturn (2019 Sep 15)
Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 4:51 am
by Chris Peterson
Scabulus wrote: ↑Sun Sep 15, 2019 4:15 am
Uh, isn't the Cassini spacecraft kaput?
It wasn't in April 2013 when this APOD originally ran. (Sunday's are repeats.)
Re: APOD: A Long Storm System on Saturn (2019 Sep 15)
Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 6:30 am
by DL MARTIN
Jupiter seems to have a similar storm pattern. How does it compare with Saturn's?
Re: APOD: A Long Storm System on Saturn (2019 Sep 15)
Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 10:39 am
by Boomer12k
Weird storm... came around... bit itself... then quit... how can we get a hurricane to do that? Oh, yeah, this one went around the whole planet....yyyeeaaahhhh.... not a good idea here....
:---[===] ^
Re: APOD: A Long Storm System on Saturn (2019 Sep 15)
Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 11:05 am
by orin stepanek
Larger than a Category 5!
![Saturn :saturn:](./images/smilies/saturn.png)
Re: APOD: A Long Storm System on Saturn (2019 Sep 15)
Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 12:32 pm
by RJN
Scabulus wrote: ↑Sun Sep 15, 2019 4:15 am
Uh, isn't the Cassini spacecraft kaput?
Yes. The word "currently" has now been changed to "then" in the text on the main NASA APOD. I apologize for the oversight.
- RJN
Re: APOD: A Long Storm System on Saturn (2019 Sep 15)
Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 3:20 pm
by FLPhotoCatcher
How do they know that the storm "tried to absorb its own tail -- which surprisingly caused it to fade away."?
And it's being compared to a snake. I don't think snakeopomorphizing the storm is the best idea.
![Laughing :lol2:](./images/smilies/asterisk_laugh.gif)
Re: APOD: A Long Storm System on Saturn (2019 Sep 15)
Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 3:26 pm
by Ronn M
What velocity was the storm's wind? Any way to calculate that?
Thanks,
Ronn
Re: APOD: A Long Storm System on Saturn (2019 Sep 15)
Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 3:33 pm
by De58te
I am kind of confused by the line, 'largest and longest lived storm ever recorded in our solar system. Maybe they mean largest and longest storm stretching all around the planet. As for longest lived, isn't that the Great Red Spot which supposedly was seen by Galileo hundreds of years ago? I mean if this storm was only first seen in 2010 how do they know it is hundreds of years old? Did Galileo mention seeing that? And if it was so old why didn't anybody see it in the year 2001, or even in the year 1981 when Voyager passed by Saturn?
Re: APOD: A Long Storm System on Saturn (2019 Sep 15)
Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 6:35 pm
by MarkBour
De58te wrote: ↑Sun Sep 15, 2019 3:33 pm
I am kind of confused by the line, 'largest and longest lived storm ever recorded in our solar system. Maybe they mean largest and longest storm stretching all around the planet. As for longest lived, isn't that the Great Red Spot which supposedly was seen by Galileo hundreds of years ago? I mean if this storm was only first seen in 2010 how do they know it is hundreds of years old? Did Galileo mention seeing that? And if it was so old why didn't anybody see it in the year 2001, or even in the year 1981 when Voyager passed by Saturn?
Well, you left out the opening modifier in the description: "one of the ..." which totally changes the meaning and immediately answers your questions.
Re: APOD: A Long Storm System on Saturn (2019 Sep 15)
Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 12:10 am
by neufer
Ronn M wrote: ↑Sun Sep 15, 2019 3:26 pm
What velocity was the storm's wind?
- Up to 200 m/s (Category 5 hurricanes include anything 70 m/s or more):
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/multimedia/pia16722.html wrote:
This image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft reveals the wind patterns within a large vortex that was spawned by a giant northern storm on Saturn. The arrows indicate the local direction of the winds. The vortex, a clockwise-spinning swirl, was spun off from the head of this storm in early December 2010, shortly after the storm erupted. The bright head of the storm moved swiftly in a westward direction around the planet, while this vortex drifted more slowly.
Re: APOD: A Long Storm System on Saturn (2019 Sep 15)
Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2022 2:09 pm
by johnnydeep
So is that black spot toward the lower left the shadow of a moon?
Re: APOD: A Long Storm System on Saturn (2019 Sep 15)
Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2022 3:44 pm
by Fred the Cat
johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sun Jul 24, 2022 2:09 pm
So is that black spot toward the lower left the shadow of a moon?
Probably some shadow like illustrated on the
Cassini Imaging Team link.
Re: APOD: A Long Storm System on Saturn (2019 Sep 15)
Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 3:27 am
by bystander
johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sun Jul 24, 2022 2:09 pm
So is that black spot toward the lower left the shadow of a moon?
Pictured here
"The shadow of the moon Enceladus is visible on the planet in the lower left of the image."
Re: APOD: A Long Storm System on Saturn (2019 Sep 15)
Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 12:43 pm
by johnnydeep
bystander wrote: ↑Mon Jul 25, 2022 3:27 am
johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sun Jul 24, 2022 2:09 pm
So is that black spot toward the lower left the shadow of a moon?
Pictured here
"The shadow of the moon Enceladus is visible on the planet in the lower left of the image."
Aha, thanks! I sometimes fail to fully read all the linked-to pages and missed that one.