See A Massive Storm on Saturn
Posted by Brian Ventrudo
The next installment of the “Bucket List for Backyard Stargazers” was planned for tonight. But let’s turn to Saturn instead. A big storm in the ringed-planet’s northern hemisphere flared up last month, and amazingly, it’s getting even bigger. This is the brightest atmospheric event on Saturn in decades, and it’s large enough now to spot visually in a modest telescope. Here’s where to find the ringed planet, and when to look for this rare and massive storm…
Storms in Saturn’s atmosphere happen from time to time. From Earth, they appear as a small white patch in the upper clouds of the sand-colored planet. One occurred earlier this year. Another in 2006, and before that in 1994 and 1990. But nothing like this has been seen for decades, if ever. In the past two weeks, the massive white patch has spread across the northern edge of the planet, spanning a length some ten times the diameter of Earth. It’s quite astonishing!
Many amateurs have imaged the storm. And NASA’s Cassini’s spacecraft is in the area, taking magnificent photos like this…
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A December 24 image from the Cassini spacecraft of the storm on Saturn. As of today, the storm extends much further around the northern hemisphere.
It’s uncertain how long this storm will last, or what’s causing it. Some believe the white markings of these storms are caused by an upwelling of cool material from deeper layers in the atmosphere. There’s some evidence such storms occur at 30-year intervals, but this one was unexpected.
So can you see this for yourself? Maybe… Saturn is visible in the early morning sky right now in most parts of the world. It lies just above the star Spica in the constellation Virgo. This image will help you find it…
Saturn lies just under the bright white star Spica, here as seen at 4 a.m. on January 28, 2011 from the northern hemisphere. From the southern hemisphere, Saturn will appear north of Spica in the early morning hours.
You’ll need clear, steady sky and a telescope at least 4-inches in diameter, and all the magnification you can get. This will not be easy to see visually, but it can be done. So if you’re an early riser, or an insomniac, give it a try.
One more thing… Saturn rotates once every 10 hours and 34 minutes, roughly. Which means the storm will move in and out of view during this period. As of tonight, I haven’t found an up-to-date timetable for the transits of this storm. But based on a recent table from the Lackawanna Astronomical Society, and a little back-of-the envelope calculation, the next transits occur as follows, approximately…
- Jan. 28: 9:50 am, 8:25 pm
- Jan. 29: 7:00 am; 5:35 p.m.
- Jan. 30: 4:10 am; 2:45 pm
- Jan. 31: 1:20 am; 12 pm; 10:40 pm
These are EASTERN STANDARD TIME. To convert to your own time, use this website…
If it helps, EST is currently 5 hours behind GMT.
If you observe within an hour either side of these times, you’ll have the best chance to see this storm.
And let me know if you see it, or photograph it. I’ll post any and all photos you send of this amazing event…
