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Aside from Earth, Saturn is probably the most immediately recognizable of the planets in our solar system. It’s the only planet with bold, easily visible rings – other planets, like Uranus, also have rings, but they’re not as opaque – and you would never mistake it for another world in our little star quarter. . However, that doesn’t mean it never changes, and NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope recently spotted some very interesting color changes on the planet.
In a new article on the NASA website, the space agency highlights an article published in Journal of Planetary Sciences where scientists reveal the subtle color changes happening on Saturn. The rings of the planet don’t change much from season to season, but the colors of the planet itself definitely do. A single year on Saturn equals 29 Earth years, so we see the seasonal changes happening very slowly, but it’s clear that something is happening under the clouds.
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In fact, in 2018, 2019 and 2020, the groups on the planet have changed in remarkable ways. Scientists have provided a beautiful animated image to help make the color changes more evident. Check for yourself:
It may not be immediately noticeable, but focus on the middle to the top of the planet’s orb and watch how the rings change. New rings are forming, some brighter areas are getting darker, and the darker region at the planet’s north pole is spreading significantly. These are pretty big changes, especially over a period of just three years, and it indicates some very interesting things happening in the atmosphere of the planet and possibly below.
“These little year-to-year changes in Saturn’s color bands are fascinating. As Saturn heads for the Fall in its northern hemisphere, we see the polar and equatorial regions change, but we also see the atmosphere changing on much shorter time scales, ”said Amy Simon, lead author of the research, in a press release. “What we’ve seen is a slight change from year to year in color, maybe cloud heights and winds – it’s not surprising that the changes aren’t huge, because we are only looking at a small fraction of a Saturn year. We’re expecting big changes on a seasonal timescale, so this shows the progression into next season. “
Perhaps what’s most interesting about seeing changes like these in Saturn’s visible upper layer is what it could mean for changes occurring deeper within the planet. No one really knows what is in gas giant planets like Saturn and Jupiter, and it is possible that some or all of these planets have solid internal cores surrounded by liquids and gases. We don’t yet have the technology to peer deep through thick cloud layers, but someday we might, and these observations might offer us the clues that reveal where the colors are coming from and what is triggering the changes. .
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Mike Wehner has reported on technology and video games for the past decade, covering the latest news and trends in virtual reality, wearable devices, smartphones and future technologies. Most recently, Mike was a technical writer for The Daily Dot and has been featured on USA Today, Time.com, and countless other websites and print. His love of reporting comes right after his gambling addiction.
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