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Newswise – NASA's Hubble Space Telescope photographed Saturn and Mars near their closest approaches to Earth in June and July 2018. It's now been summer in the hemisphere north of Saturn and spring in the southern hemisphere of Mars. Hubble's images show that the Earth is not the only planet where the intense storms of spring and summer are wreaking havoc.
The increase of sunlight in the northern hemisphere of Saturn has warmed the atmosphere to trigger a big storm that is now disintegrating in the polar region of Saturn.
On March, a dust storm erupted in the southern hemisphere and engulfed it in a global dust storm that engulfed the entire planet.
The planets were photographed near the opposition, when the Sun, the Earth and an outer planet are lined up, with the Earth sitting between the Sun and the outer planet. At the moment of opposition, a planet is at its closest distance from the Earth for a given year. Because of the proximity, the planet also looks brighter in the sky.
Hubble saw Saturn on June 6, when the ring world was about 1.36 billion miles from Earth as it was approaching a June 27 opposition. Mars was captured on July 18, just 36.9 million miles from Earth, near its July 27th opposition. This close distance puts Mars at its best in the night sky since the opposition of 2003.
Saturn has seasonal changes caused by the 27 degree axial tilt of the planet. With summer in the northern hemisphere, the atmosphere is now more active. This can be responsible for a string of bright clouds visible near the northern polar region that are the remains of a decaying storm. Small puffs of mid-latitude clouds are also visible.
Hubble's view also solves a hexagonal pattern around the north pole of Saturn, a steady and persistent wind discovered during Voyager's overflight in 1981. The magnificent ring system of the planet is also exposed and close to its maximum inclination towards the Earth. 2017.
Mars also has seasons, due in part to its 25 degree axial tilt, which is similar to the 23.5 degree tilt of the Earth. Unlike Earth, Mars' more elliptical orbit has a greater influence on its seasonal changes. Its points closest and farthest from the Sun vary by 19% (against 3% for the Earth).
Every March, moderately large dust storms cover areas of continental size and last weeks at a time. Global dust storms – lasting for weeks or months – tend to occur in the spring and summer in the southern hemisphere, when Mars is closer to the Sun and warming is maximal to generate winds.
While spacecraft in orbit around Mars are studying the behavior of the low-level storm, other Hubble observations will allow astronomers to study changes in the upper atmosphere. The combined observations will help planetary scientists better understand how global storms are occurring on the red planet.
The portrait of Saturn is the first image of the planet taken as part of the OPAL project (Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy). OPAL helps scientists understand the atmospheric dynamics and evolution of the gaseous giant planets of our solar system.
The Hubble Space Telescope is an international cooperation project between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Institute of Space Telescope Sciences (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, leads Hubble's scientific operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Washington, DC
For image files and more information about Saturn, Mars and Hubble, visit:
http://hubblesite.org/news_release/ news / 2018-29
http://www.nasa.gov/hubble
Ann Jenkins / Ray Villard
Institute of Space Telescope Sciences, Baltimore, Maryland
410-338-4488 / 410-338 -4514
[email protected] / [email protected]
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