Saturn's Super Storm 73
An anonymous reader sends in a brief writeup about a massive storm that's been visible on Saturn's surface for a few months now. "As it rapidly expanded, the storm's core developed into a giant, powerful thunderstorm, producing a 3,000-mile-wide (5,000-kilometer-wide) dark vortex possibly similar to Jupiter's Great Red Spot." The storm has been photographed by the Cassini probe, Hubble and even amateur astronomers here on Earth. (The Planetary Society Weblog also posted an 8,000-pixel-wide panorama a while back.) "The violence of the storm — the strongest disturbances ever detected in Saturn's stratosphere — took researchers by surprise. What started as an ordinary disturbance deep in Saturn's atmosphere punched through the planet's serene cloud cover to roil the high layer known as the stratosphere." A study on the thermal structure of the storm (abstract) was just published in the journal Science.
Surely (Score:3, Funny)
We must fight to end global warming or this will only continue to get worse!
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we already ruled out the sun as a driver of climate change, so the only conclusions are that the people of Saturn have been producing too much greenhouses gases, and thus destroying their planet. ipso facto, there are Martians on Saturn.
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we already ruled out the sun as a driver of climate change, so the only conclusions are that the people of Saturn have been producing too much greenhouses gases, and thus destroying their planet. ipso facto, there are Martians on Saturn.
Martians? I thought there were too many cows.
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Are you suggesting that Martians living on Saturn may be practicing Hindu?
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Yes, AC. Current evidence leads us to believe that the evidence that a planet once held alien life is the non-existence of water. Ergo, the alien species that once occupied the planet has warmed the planet to such a degree that the atmosphere was destroyed and the water then evaporated into space.
There is almost irrefutable proof that this is exactly what happened on Mars.
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warmed the planet to such a degree that the atmosphere was destroyed and the water then evaporated into space.
Or, as the plot of too many science fiction movies follow, aliens came and stole all the water.
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we already ruled out the sun as a driver of climate change....
My sarcasm detector is in the shop again, so I must explicitly observe that the sun is, and has always been, the primary driver of climate.
Climate has never needed us to change it, just as species have never needed us to extinct them.
Things like this don't need us, but they are happy to take our help.
Especially at anthropomorphizing themselves - they love our help there.
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This was exactly my thought. Instead of wasting all of our time looking for water on planets as a sign of possible life, simply look for greenhouse gases. If there are any advanced super aliens out there, they're planet must be a veritable sauna by now.
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Except perhaps those aliens wouldn't have the NIMBYs we have to deal with and would have shifted over to nuclear fission, and possibly even nuclear fusion.
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I've always been in favour of Dyson sphere [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere]. Surely not a big deal for very advanced species...
Yawn (Score:2)
You're about 10 years too late with that "gag". Try a bit harder.
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The "storm" is the result of stupid attempts by Saturnians to limit CO2 emissions with nuclear plants. One of them just blew up.
In Perspective (Score:5, Informative)
When you look at these photos, there is one aspect that is lost due to the size of the planet itself. At 3000 miles wide, this "storm" is about 40% the diameter of the Earth.
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Dangit, God! I told him to keep it in his pants, but he couldn't contain himself when he saw Saturn.
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That Cassini probe needs to stop thinking about sexual things all the time....
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(Now if you were to go to another universe, I can't guarantee the local laws of physics will apply there as well. Which does not bode well for hyperdimensional porn studios.)
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Re:In Perspective (Score:4, Insightful)
When you look at these photos, there is one aspect that is lost due to the size of the planet itself. At 3000 miles wide, this "storm" is about 40% the diameter of the Earth.
Diameter of the Earth is a nearly meaningless comparison. Not only is the Earth not a perfect sphere, but also most people will have a hard time gauging the spatial reference to something more meaningful, such as "about the size of the entire continent of North America."
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Diameter of the Earth is a nearly meaningless comparison. Not only is the Earth not a perfect sphere, but also most people will have a hard time gauging the spatial reference to something more meaningful
Ok. How about 'the storm is the same size as 528000 football fields placed end to end' ?
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Diameter of the Earth is a nearly meaningless comparison. Not only is the Earth not a perfect sphere, but also most people will have a hard time gauging the spatial reference to something more meaningful
Ok. How about 'the storm is the same size as 528000 football fields placed end to end' ?
Or how about just saying it's big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mindbogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think the one that went through Alabama was big, but that's just peanuts to Saturn's, listen...
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Maybe you should measure it in terms of "Library of Congress". Maybe Volkswagons. There's always hail. Or some other scientific terms like these.
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An SF story of my acquaintance ("Meeting with Medusa"? Here [wikipedia.org]) has a Jovenaut balloonist comparing the surface area of the Earth spread out on Jupiter as similar to the area of India on the Earth.
I'd have to work out a similar comparison for Saturn ; NA doesn't sound far off though.
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if you were to look at this in perspective, the storm seems to be the same size ratio as one on earth.
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Doesn't need some cleaver caption trying to one-up the last one. Its wonderful to live in a time when we can witness this.
Indeed, we're lucky to be born after the big bang.
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true sign of the end of the world (Score:1)
So, maybe it's not just the end of our world, but Saturn as well?
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Exactly. Look at the storm, what color is it? It's white. What else is white? Angels. This is not a storm, this is a gathering of angels to.. well, storm the Earth. They better get moving if they hope to be here tomorrow.
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I'd prefer to think that it's a gathering cluster of white monoliths!
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If a black monolith makes you smarter and more violent, what does a white monolith do?
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But honestly, maybe these little crazes are a good thing, society-wise. I mean, it's one of those things that, no matter what you do, someone somewhere is going to look at something and claim the end of the world is nigh. Fact of life.
I remember hearing about some sort of scenario involving the alignment of the planets when I was a kid and, well, I was pretty stupid and got scared. Well maybe "scared" is a bit strong. I was
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Impact? (Score:2)
Climate change! (Score:4, Funny)
Look what we've done now, our polluting ways have gone and broken Saturn too. :(
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Quick! (Score:2)
Mobilize FEMA. Or they'll miss this one as well.
Obviously, global warming is viral (Score:1)
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...idiots spamming an unrelated topic with their denialist bullshit. ... half the posts are climate change trolls.
Seems to me that your post fits right in there as an exemplary illustration of what it is that you are whining about. People who don't think as you prefer to, they are automatically labeled "idiots", and their personal thoughts/perceptions on the topic are "bullshit", right? And because of this, they are automatically labeled in your mind as "trolls", so you call them out in an insulting and derogatory manner.
Be careful chucking those rocks, what with that glass house you are living in...
Industrial Age (Score:2)
Obviously Saturn has reached it's industrial age, and we are seeing the plume from their smokestacks. Beware our future giant planet steampunk overlords.
What's the common denominator? (Score:2)
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Obvious - the rapture (Score:2)
Raging storms on earth, the reappearance of the Jupiter Southern Equatorial belt with more storms than normal and now Saturn. Seriously, what are we missing?
The Rapture must start at the outer planets and work its way inward
Ragnarok (Score:1)
Martian Astronomers? (Score:1)
My God! (Score:2)
It's full of stars!
Damn... (Score:2)
3000 mile, 5000 kilometer, 8000 pixel...
We must stop the Saturnians before their power becomes over nine thousand.