NASA shares image of massive 'Hexagon' on Saturn
NASA's Cassini spacecraft has provided your multicolored space
distraction of the day: images of a swirling, six-sided weather feature
on the surface of Saturn. FULL STORY
(CNN) -- NASA's Cassini spacecraft has provided your multicolored space distraction of the day: images of a swirling, six-sided weather feature on the surface of Saturn.
|
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NASA shared video of massive, multi-colored hexagon on Saturn
- The image shows a weather pattern with 200-mph winds
- The Cassini spacecraft has been orbiting Saturn since 2004
Scientists say the "Hexagon," the formation's working title at NASA, is unlike anything they've seen elsewhere.
They say the feature is
"turbulent and unstable," packing 200-mph winds. That's nearly 50 mph
stronger than the wind speed required for a Category 5 hurricane.
"A hurricane on Earth
typically lasts a week, but this has been here for decades -- and who
knows -- maybe centuries," said Andrew Ingersoll, a Cassini team member
at the California Institute of Technology.
The Cassini spacecraft
was launched in 1997 and has been in orbit around Saturn, the sixth
planet from the sun, since 2004. NASA hopes it will collect more pictures and other data of Saturn and its rings and moons through 2017.
Cassini had photographed
the hexagon before. But the short video clip released this week is the
first high-resolution image of the massive jet stream, and the first
with color filters.
Cassini captured images of the hexagon over a 10-hour time period on December 10, 2012.
The images, which
scientists are still analyzing, are rendered in "false color," a method
that makes it easier to tell the difference between different parts of
the storm. To human eyes, the hexagon and the planet's north pole would
appear in tones of gold and blue.
Cassini arrived at Saturn
in 2004. But NASA has begun getting better images of the planet from
Cassini since sunlight began bathing Saturn's northern hemisphere with
the arrival of the planet's spring season in 2009. ("Seasons" on Saturn
go on for years, as the distant planet's orbit around the sun takes 29
years.)
COPY http://edition.cnn.com/
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário