First results from Cassini’s dives between Saturn and its rings
The first results from Cassini’s weekly dives between Saturn and its innermost rings have now been released.
The big surprise so far is the lack of a tilt to Saturn’s magnetic field.
Based on data collected by Cassini’s magnetometer instrument, Saturn’s magnetic field appears to be surprisingly well-aligned with the planet’s rotation axis. The tilt is much smaller than 0.06 degrees — which is the lower limit the spacecraft’s magnetometer data placed on the value prior to the start of the Grand Finale.
This observation is at odds with scientists’ theoretical understanding of how magnetic fields are generated. Planetary magnetic fields are understood to require some degree of tilt to sustain currents flowing through the liquid metal deep inside the planets (in Saturn’s case, thought to be liquid metallic hydrogen). With no tilt, the currents would eventually subside and the field would disappear.
Any tilt to the magnetic field would make the daily wobble of the planet’s deep interior observable, thus revealing the true length of Saturn’s day, which has so far proven elusive.
They also have gotten lots of much better images of the planet’s cloud tops.
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The first results from Cassini’s weekly dives between Saturn and its innermost rings have now been released.
The big surprise so far is the lack of a tilt to Saturn’s magnetic field.
Based on data collected by Cassini’s magnetometer instrument, Saturn’s magnetic field appears to be surprisingly well-aligned with the planet’s rotation axis. The tilt is much smaller than 0.06 degrees — which is the lower limit the spacecraft’s magnetometer data placed on the value prior to the start of the Grand Finale.
This observation is at odds with scientists’ theoretical understanding of how magnetic fields are generated. Planetary magnetic fields are understood to require some degree of tilt to sustain currents flowing through the liquid metal deep inside the planets (in Saturn’s case, thought to be liquid metallic hydrogen). With no tilt, the currents would eventually subside and the field would disappear.
Any tilt to the magnetic field would make the daily wobble of the planet’s deep interior observable, thus revealing the true length of Saturn’s day, which has so far proven elusive.
They also have gotten lots of much better images of the planet’s cloud tops.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
You mean they’re not going to “adjust” the data to correspond with the theory? :)
You mean they’re not going to “adjust” the data to correspond with the theory? :)
Their isn’t a climate “scientist” within 746 million miles of Saturn, so the data is safe.
Bueatiful images from cassinis camera, good science creates more questions than it answers sometimes, versus proclamations that come from “climate scientist”.
Magnetic fields seems to be one of the hardest topics in astrophysics. When an astronomer proudly
explains her model of almost any phenomena, it is jokingly considered impolite to ask:
“- Did you factor in magnetic fields?”
Dave Stevenson gives an overview on magnetic fields in the Solar System:
https://youtu.be/F488kOmhu9Q?t=87
Even with exact information about a planet’s mass, composition, rotation, temperature there is no way to conclude whether it has a magnetic field or not. Jupiter and Earth’s magnetic fields have surprising similarities, such as the same orientation relative to their spin axes and the same field intensity something. But Earth’s twin Venus has no magnetic field at all!
One of Juno’s science goals is to determine Jupiter’s deep structure. That might be a goal they don’t reach, and not because of any instrument failure. But they are probably referring to the upper part of the atmosphere.