String of Pearls

 

 

Black and White Image

 

 

In this image, Saturn's fascinating meteorology manifests itself in a

"string of pearls" formation, spanning over 60,000 kilometers (37,000

miles).

 

 

Seen in new images acquired by Cassini's visual and infrared mapping

spectrometer and lit from below by Saturn's internal thermal glow, the

bright "pearls" are actually clearings in Saturn's deep cloud system. More

than two dozen occur at 40 degrees north latitude. Each clearing follows

another at a regular spacing of some 3.5 degrees in longitude.

 

 

This is the first time such a regular and extensive train of

cloud-clearings has been observed. The regularity indicates that they may

be a manifestation of a large planetary wave. Scientists plan to take more

observations of this phenomenon over the next few years to try to

understand Saturn's deep circulation systems and meteorology. This image

was taken on April 27, 2006.

 

 

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European

Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory,

a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages

the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The

visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team is based at the University

of Arizona where this image was produced.

 

 

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission

saturn.jpl.nasa.gov The visual and infrared mapping

spectrometer team homepage is at wwwvims.lpl.arizona.edu.

 

 

credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

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