Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2019 September 15
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                        A Long Storm System on Saturn
   Image Credit: [3]Cassini Imaging Team, [4]SSI, [5]JPL, [6]ESA, [7]NASA

   Explanation: It was one of the largest and longest lived storms ever
   recorded in our Solar System. First seen in late 2010, the [8]above
   cloud formation in the northern hemisphere of [9]Saturn started larger
   than the Earth and [10]soon spread completely around the planet. The
   storm was tracked not only [11]from Earth but from [12]up close by the
   robotic [13]Cassini spacecraft currently orbiting Saturn. [14]Pictured
   here in false colored infrared in February, orange colors indicate
   [15]clouds deep in the atmosphere, while light colors highlight clouds
   higher up. The [16]rings of Saturn are seen nearly edge-on as the thin
   blue horizontal line. The warped dark bands are the [17]shadows of the
   rings cast onto the cloud tops by the Sun to the upper left. A source
   of radio noise from [18]lightning, the [19]intense storm was thought to
   relate to seasonal changes when spring [20]emerges in the north of
   [21]Saturn. After raging for over six months, the [22]iconic storm
   circled the entire planet and then tried to absorb its own tail --
   which surprisingly caused it to [23]fade away.

                      Tomorrow's picture: quantum moon
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    Authors & editors: [35]Robert Nemiroff ([36]MTU) & [37]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([38]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [39]Specific rights apply.
              [40]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [41]ASD at [42]NASA / [43]GSFC
                           & [44]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1909/longstorm_cassini_977.jpg
   3. http://ciclops.org/
   4. https://www.spacescience.org/
   5. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/
   6. http://www.esa.int/
   7. ht://www.nasa.gov/
   8. http://www.ciclops.org/index/6967/The_Saturn_Storm_Chronicles
   9. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/saturn/overview/
  10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7O8Hsuxjyo
  11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110317.html
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110119.html
  13. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/cassini/mission/spacecraft/cassini-orbiter/
  14. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA12829
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110708.html
  16. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Saturn
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap111012.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100419.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080505.html
  20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW0EsR2FBD4
  21. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvTSB5B0d0w
  22. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013Icar..223..460S/abstract
  23. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/whycassini/cassini20130131.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190914.html
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  28. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  33. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=190915
  34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190916.html
  35. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  36. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  37. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  38. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  39. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  40. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  41. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  42. https://www.nasa.gov/
  43. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  44. http://www.mtu.edu/