Hurricane season begins early … on Saturn
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The Cassini spacecraft has captured some fantastic imagery of a hurricane at the north pole of Saturn.
Such a hurricane would defy categorization on Earth. Its eye, alone, is 1,250 miles wide. Hurricane Sandy, the largest hurricane on record in the Atlantic basin, was about 1,000 miles across its entirety.
And the Saturnian monster (wait, has The Weather Channel named it yet?) has winds of 330 mph at its edge. That would be something like a Category-bazillion on the Saffir-Simpson Scale.
Although this is the first time the Cassini spacecraft has imaged the north pole (in visible light), scientists believe this storm has been spinning for years.
More at http://blog.chron.com/sciguy/2013/04/hurricane-season-begins-early-on-saturn/ .
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An enormous hurricane raging at Saturn's north pole has an eye 2,000km (1,250mi) across - big enough to cover the UK 12 times over.
The striking images of the storm were snapped from a height of 420.000km (260,000mi) by the Cassini spacecraft, which arrived at Saturn in 2004.
They were captured in red and infrared wavelengths and have been false-coloured to show detail.
Scientists say the hurricane's winds reach a staggering 150m/s (330mph).
But they do not know just how long the storm has been brewing.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22351048
