Space

The eye of Saturn

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August 12, 2014

This image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on April 2, 2014. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Earlier this month (August 4, 2014), NASA released this new image of Saturn’s hexagon – a persisting hexagonal cloud pattern around the planet’s north pole – taken by the orbiting Cassini spacecraft. The sides of the hexagon are about 13,800 kilometers (8,600 miles) long, which is longer than the Earth’s diameter. Measurements have sized the “eye” – the vortex at the center of the swirling hexagon – at a staggering 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) across with cloud speeds as fast as 330 miles per hour (150 meters per second).

The image above was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on April 2, 2014. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 1.4 million miles (2.2 million kilometers) from Saturn. Image scale is 8 miles (13 kilometers) per pixel.

This image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Nov. 27, 2012. In the image, red indicates low clouds and green indicates high ones. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 261,000 miles (419,000 kilometers) from Saturn. Image scale is 1 mile (2 kilometers) per pixel. Image credit: NASA

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August 12, 2014

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Eleanor Imster

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About the Author:

Eleanor Imster has helped write and edit EarthSky since 1995. She was an integral part of the award-winning EarthSky radio series almost since it began until it ended in 2013. Today, as an EarthSky.org Editor, she helps present the science and nature stories and photos you enjoy. She and her husband live in Tennessee, where they enjoy guitar playing and singing. They have 2 grown sons.