File:Saturn (2023-023).png
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Summary
[edit]DescriptionSaturn (2023-023).png |
English: This photo of Saturn was taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope on October 22, 2023, when the ringed planet was approximately 850 million miles from Earth. Hubble's ultra-sharp vision reveals a phenomenon called ring spokes.
Saturn's spokes are transient features that rotate along with the rings. Their ghostly appearance only persists for two or three rotations around Saturn. During active periods, freshly-formed spokes continuously add to the pattern. In 1981, NASA's Voyager 2 first photographed the ring spokes. NASA's Cassini orbiter also saw the spokes during its 13-year-long mission that ended in 2017. Hubble continues observing Saturn annually as the spokes come and go. This cycle has been captured by Hubble's Outer Planets Atmospheres Legacy (OPAL) program that began nearly a decade ago to annually monitor weather changes on all four gas-giant outer planets. Hubble's crisp images show that the frequency of spoke apparitions is seasonally driven, first appearing in OPAL data in 2021 but only on the morning (left) side of the rings. Long-term monitoring show that both the number and contrast of the spokes vary with Saturn's seasons. Saturn is tilted on its axis like Earth and has seasons lasting approximately seven years. "We are heading towards Saturn equinox, when we'd expect maximum spoke activity, with higher frequency and darker spokes appearing over the next few years," said the OPAL program lead scientist, Amy Simon of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. This year, these ephemeral structures appear on both sides of the planet simultaneously as they spin around the giant world. Although they look small compared with Saturn, their length and width can stretch longer than Earth's diameter! "The leading theory is that spokes are tied to Saturn's powerful magnetic field, with some sort of solar interaction with the magnetic field that gives you the spokes," said Simon. When it's near the equinox on Saturn, the planet and its rings are less tilted away from the Sun. In this configuration, the solar wind may more strongly batter Saturn's immense magnetic field, enhancing spoke formation. Planetary scientists think that electrostatic forces generated from this interaction levitate dust or ice above the ring to form the spokes, though after several decades no theory perfectly predicts the spokes. Continued Hubble observations may eventually help solve the mystery. NASA, ESA, STScI, Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC) |
Date | 21 December 2023 (upload date) |
Source | Saturn |
Author | Science NASA, ESA, STScI, Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC) |
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Licensing
[edit]Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse |
This file is in the public domain because it was created by NASA and ESA. NASA Hubble material (and ESA Hubble material prior to 2009) is copyright-free and may be freely used as in the public domain without fee, on the condition that only NASA, STScI, and/or ESA is credited as the source of the material. This license does not apply if ESA material created after 2008 or source material from other organizations is in use. The material was created for NASA by Space Telescope Science Institute under Contract NAS5-26555, or for ESA by the Hubble European Space Agency Information Centre. Copyright statement at hubblesite.org or 2008 copyright statement at spacetelescope.org. For material created by the European Space Agency on the spacetelescope.org site since 2009, use the {{ESA-Hubble}} tag. |
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current | 09:30, 26 December 2023 | 1,755 × 987 (360 KB) | OptimusPrimeBot (talk | contribs) | #Spacemedia - Upload of https://stsci-opo.org/STScI-01HGXC6BFXWQ6KFGXBPTRN6MCQ.png via Commons:Spacemedia |
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Metadata
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Author | Space Telescope Science Institute Office of Public Outreach |
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Credit/Provider | NASA, ESA, Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI) |
Source | STScI |
Usage terms | |
Date and time of data generation | 21 December 2023 |
Color space | sRGB |
Exif version | 2.31 |
Image width | 1,755 px |
Image height | 987 px |
Bits per component |
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Height | 987 px |
Width | 1,755 px |
Pixel composition | RGB |
Number of components | 3 |
Horizontal resolution | 71.98 dpi |
Vertical resolution | 71.98 dpi |
Contact information | outreach@stsci.edu
3700 San Martin Drive Baltimore, MD, 21218 USA |
Keywords | Saturn |
Date metadata was last modified | 06:08, 5 December 2023 |
Unique ID of original document | 95AE25E617B382E3F74B0A10BC22241B |
File change date and time | 08:18, 4 December 2023 |