• DOI:10.1126/SCIENCE.1107691
• Corpus ID: 9210768

Cassini Imaging Science: Initial Results on Saturn's Atmosphere

@article{Porco2005CassiniIS,
  title={Cassini Imaging Science: Initial Results on Saturn's Atmosphere},
  author={Carolyn C. Porco and Emily J. Baker and J. M. Barbara and Kevin Beurle and Andre Brahic and Joseph A. Burns and S{\'e}bastien Charnoz and Nicholas J. Cooper and D. D. Dawson and Anthony D. Del Genio and Tilmann Denk and Luke Dones and Ulyana Anatolyevna Dyudina and Michael W. Evans and Bernd Giese and Kevin R. Grazier and P. Helfenstein and Andrew P. Ingersoll and Robert A. Jacobson and Torrence V. Johnson and Andy McEwen and Carl D. Murray and Gerhard Neukum and W. M. Owen and J. E. Perry and Thomas Roatsch and Joseph Nicholas Spitale and Steven W. Squyres and Peter C. Thomas and Matthew S. Tiscareno and Elizabeth P. Turtle and Ashwin R. Vasavada and Joseph Frank Veverka and Roland J. Wagner and Richard D. West},
  journal={Science},
  year={2005},
  volume={307},
  pages={1243 - 1247}
}

• C. Porco, E. Baker, +32 authors R. West
• Published 25 February 2005
• Physics, Environmental Science
• Science

The Cassini Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) began observing Saturn in early February 2004. From analysis of cloud motions through early October 2004, we report vertical wind shear in Saturn's equatorial jet and a maximum wind speed of ∼375 meters per second, a value that differs from both Hubble Space Telescope and Voyager values. We also report a particularly active narrow southern mid-latitude region in which dark ovals are observed both to merge with each other and to arise from the eruptions of large, bright storms. Bright storm eruptions are correlated with Saturn's electrostatic discharges, which are thought to originate from lightning.