Colossal hurricane-like storm seen on Saturn

[DoYouEverWonder]

Nov 9, 2006

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A colossal, swirling storm with a well-developed eye is churning at Saturn's south pole, the first time a truly hurricane-like storm has been detected on a planet other than Earth, NASA images showed on Thursday.

The storm on the giant, ringed planet is about 5,000 miles wide, measuring roughly two thirds the diameter of Earth, with winds howling clockwise at 350 mph (550 kph).

Jupiter's Great Red Spot, which swirls counterclockwise, is far bigger, but is less like a hurricane because it lacks the typical eye and eye wall.

The images -- essentially a 14-frame movie -- were captured over a period of three hours on October 11 by the U.S. space agency's Cassini spacecraft as it passed about 210,000 miles from the planet as part of its exploration of Saturn and its moons.

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyID=2006-11-09T225927Z_01_N09366947_RTRUKOC_0_US-SPACE-SATURN.xml&WTmodLoc=SciNewsHome_C1_%5bFeed%5d-2

[AIJ Alom]

1. I was reading about Cassini yesterday and it's eventual demise

on Space.com. Though it's mission will probably last until 2012, there is debate on whether or not to crash it into Saturn, Mercury, Jupiter, one of Saturn's moons, or let it go further out into the black.

http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/061108_cassini_fate.html

[NanceGreggs]

2. Fear not, Saturnites!

Michael Brown is on his way to ensure your safety!

[IndyBob]

3. What a noble endeavor

to seek knowledge. I always thought it would be a fantastic job to design or direct, or be involved in one of these NASA or JPL projects. Call me a geek, but to have been involved in Apollo would have been a kick-ass job. Being the first to land on the moon is something the US can look back on with pride. The fulfillment of Kennedy's promise was an incentive to all involved.

Bottom line is, I would rather our knowledge be advanced for science and the common good (not always the same thing), as opposed to developing new and improved weapon systems. We can kill ourselves well enough already, thank you.

[El Supremo]

4. Picture. Wow!

[NNadir]

5. This sounds like a job for Brownie.