Storm on Saturn

Jesse Walker | November 14, 2006

Pictures of the week:

This is bigger than any election on Earth. Indeed, it's practically bigger than Earth, period:

NASA's Cassini spacecraft recently captured these images (taken in visible light [left] and infrared) of a massive hurricane-like storm at Saturn's south pole, the first such phenomenon ever spotted on another planet.

Much like an Earth-bound hurricane, the storm features a well-developed central eye and columns of towering clouds. But this cyclone could not only dwarf any Earthly storm, it could also virtually swallow the Earth itself, measuring a monstrous 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) across.

The cyclone is swirling over the pole at 350 miles (550 kilometers) an hour, whipping up Saturn's ammonia clouds at speeds much higher than the winds inside Jupiter's Great Red Spot.

Comments

|11.14.06 @ 9:40AM|#

This just demonstrates the total lack of priorities in the Bush Administration. Spending tax dollars on interplanetary survelliance instead of on Saturnian mega-hurricane relief.

R C Dean|11.14.06 @ 10:04AM|#

Obviously, the increase in severity and frequency of hurricanes on Saturn is proof of Saturnian warming, caused by the excessive CO2 production of industrial society there.

|11.14.06 @ 10:20AM|#

Seriously, Eric. What have we done? Bush doesn't care about Saturnians. I demand the impeachment of FEMA

|11.14.06 @ 10:22AM|#

WTF? The Great Red Spot is as big as two or three Earths, and has wind speeds comparable to this new comer. Just because it's anti-cyclonic, sheesh. A clear case of discrimination.

thoreau|11.14.06 @ 10:34AM|#

These things are just plain cool!

|11.14.06 @ 11:00AM|#

I don't know if the storm is cool, but I'll bet the storm is cold.

|11.14.06 @ 11:11AM|#

I hate to quibble (not really) but Earth's diameter is approx. 8,000 miles. This storm is only 62% of that. Hardly large enough to "virtually swallow the Earth itself"

Other than that, Megacool!

Thomas Paine\'s Goiter|11.14.06 @ 11:13AM|#

Do we have any estimates of the storm surge?

MY GOD WE MUST KNOW WHAT THE EXACT STORM SURGE WILL BE!

Thomas Paine\'s Goiter|11.14.06 @ 11:15AM|#

This storm is only 62% of that. Hardly large enough to "virtually swallow the Earth itself"


Oh come on. If it hit the earth north of the equator, it would affect virtually every living creature on the planet. I'd say that's enough.

|11.14.06 @ 11:35AM|#

Pictures like this are why I read H & R more than any other blog. Forget politics, this is just about the coolest thing around now. Thanks, Jesse. You've made my morning.

Jesse Walker|11.14.06 @ 11:44AM|#

J sub D: You're right. The quoted text is arguably in the clear, but my intro isn't -- I'll fix it. Thanks.

|11.14.06 @ 11:48AM|#

wow! intergalactic nipples!

|11.14.06 @ 12:49PM|#

"The cyclone is swirling over the pole at 350 miles (550 kilometers) an hour, whipping up Saturn's ammonia clouds at speeds much higher than the winds inside Jupiter's Great Red Spot."

I'll bet you could clean yourself quite the bathtub in there.

|11.14.06 @ 1:37PM|#

I can dig 350 MPH, but I reject & resent 550 kilometers per hour. There oughta be a law.

|11.14.06 @ 1:59PM|#

Karen,

Reubens also painted some Cronus-eatin' fun.

|11.14.06 @ 2:31PM|#

Thanks, Pro L. I hadn't seen that picture before. Peter Paul is a favorite of mine and I'm always happy to see another one of his works. ("The Apotheosis of Marie de Medici" is, in my opinion, one of the earliest examples of postmodern irony in painting.)

|11.14.06 @ 3:37PM|#

The coolest Saturn photos that I've seen are the recent ones taken by Cassini on the "dark side" of Saturn. Very cool, and they also include a little blue dot (at around 10 o'clock in the outer rings, or thereabouts) that would be the Earth. My favorite of the group is this picture.

|11.14.06 @ 4:43PM|#

My God! It's full of... Oh shit, wrong planet!

|11.14.06 @ 4:51PM|#

Akira,

No, it's the right planet. Kubrick couldn't handle the rings, so he changed it to Jupiter. The monolith was hanging out near Iapetus in the book, if I remember correctly.

|11.14.06 @ 5:24PM|#

Actually, I was misquoted. What I really said was, "My God, it's full of Mars Bars."

|11.14.06 @ 6:07PM|#

The monolith was hanging out near Iapetus in the book, if I remember correctly.

Basically; it was standing upright on Iapetus's surface.

|11.14.06 @ 11:16PM|#

"My God, it's full of Mars Bars."

You mean Snickers with Almonds.

|11.15.06 @ 12:44PM|#

When Star Child craves a sweet snack, he manipulates reality to grab an Almond Joy. Sometimes, Star Child feels like an omniscient nut.

|11.15.06 @ 4:21PM|#

"My stars! It's full of gods!"

Upon witnessing the sudden birth of a posthuman AI culture in orbit around Jupiter, The Cassini Division, by Ken MacLeod

|11.15.06 @ 4:37PM|#

For the love of God, Montressor, it's full of bricks!