The endless bands of Saturn
Cool image time. One of the images released by the Cassini science team this week when it announced the first results from the spacecraft’s weekly dives between Saturn and its innermost rings was a short video made from 137 images taken on its first dive on April 26, 2017.
It is absolutely worthwhile to view this video. It begins at Saturn’s north pole, looking down into what appears to be a bottomless vortex, and continues south to almost the equator. Along the way the movie captures what seems to be innumerable horizontal bands across the gas giant’s surface. Not only are do we see the major bands that have been observed from Earth for centuries, there are bands within bands, and bands within those bands. Like a fractal it appears that the deeper you go, the more horizontal jet streams you see.
Like Juno at Jupiter, the mysteries of a gas giant like Saturn is overwhelming. This is a big and very active planet. We understand almost nothing about its weather systems, its atmosphere, and its interior. And this glimpse by Cassini is only that, a mere glimpse. When Cassini’s mission ends in September, it will leave us a treasure trove of knowledge. It will also leave us a much larger library of unanswered questions, all of which will remain unanswered until we can return, decades hence, with new probes..
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.
Cool image time. One of the images released by the Cassini science team this week when it announced the first results from the spacecraft’s weekly dives between Saturn and its innermost rings was a short video made from 137 images taken on its first dive on April 26, 2017.
It is absolutely worthwhile to view this video. It begins at Saturn’s north pole, looking down into what appears to be a bottomless vortex, and continues south to almost the equator. Along the way the movie captures what seems to be innumerable horizontal bands across the gas giant’s surface. Not only are do we see the major bands that have been observed from Earth for centuries, there are bands within bands, and bands within those bands. Like a fractal it appears that the deeper you go, the more horizontal jet streams you see.
Like Juno at Jupiter, the mysteries of a gas giant like Saturn is overwhelming. This is a big and very active planet. We understand almost nothing about its weather systems, its atmosphere, and its interior. And this glimpse by Cassini is only that, a mere glimpse. When Cassini’s mission ends in September, it will leave us a treasure trove of knowledge. It will also leave us a much larger library of unanswered questions, all of which will remain unanswered until we can return, decades hence, with new probes..
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.
Now I know where David Lynch gets his ideas.