December 5, 2013

New details about the ferocious hurricane swirling around Saturn’s north pole have been captured by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. The storm is 20 times as large as the average hurricane on Earth. The hurricane swirls inside a strange six-sided feature first photographed in the 1980′s by the Voyager spacecraft. The hexagon, which is unlike anything seen on any other planet, is large enough to hold four Earths.

A variety of clouds and storms are visible in a new composite image of a hurricane locked on to Saturn's north pole. The colors in the image represent different forms of light, as captured through filters on the Cassini spacecraft. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/Hampton University)

The eye of the hurricane is about 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers) wide. The clouds circling around the outer edge of the storm are moving at speeds estimated at up to 330 miles  (530 meters) per hour. By contrast, the strongest hurricanes on Earth have winds of up to 200 miles (320 kilometers) per hour. Also, unlike hurricanes on Earth, which generally move, the Saturnian hurricane is locked onto the planet’s north pole. Scientists believe it has been churning for years.

Additional World Book articles:

• Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• Close encounters with Saturn (a special report)
• Probing the Planets (a special report)
• Space exploration 1997 (a Back in Time article)
• Space exploration 2004 (a Back in Time article)
• Space exploration 2008 (a Back in Time article)