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
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm The visual and infrared mapping
spectrometer team homepage is at http://wwwvims.lpl.arizona.edu.
