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Saturn Has a Warm Pole

Posted by Hemos on from the like-forgotten-earth dept.

Artifex writes "Astronomers using infrared imaging capabilities at Keck Observatory in Hawaii have discovered that Saturn's "south" pole is warm - the first warm pole detected in the solar system. "

4 of 49 comments (clear)

  1. It's all relative? by Bucky_the_AV_Guy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    While I appreciate this is the first planet in the solar system to display this - is it not all relative? The scientists that found this vortex did not estimate the temperature at the pole. Saturn has to be by and large pretty bloody cold. The fact that the pole is warmer than the rest of the planet is not necessarily all that meaningful is it? I mean it could still be way way below the freezing mark. I mean if ithe average temperature of saturn is -130C (http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/bobalien99/table.htm ) and the pole is even 30 degrees C warmer then the pole is only -100C! Still not much going to be happening there I would think.

    Perhaps someone else can help me see the real significance of this. (Really I am interested).

    1. Re:It's all relative? by Scarblac · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Of course it is still bloody cold there - it's described as a jet steam in the Saturn atmosphere, i.e. more atmospheric activity than usual. Not hot springs.

      The significance is that we don't have an explanation for it. It's something strange and unexpected. On other planets, the poles are colder than the rest.

      Furthermore, if this were the result of seasons (the pole has been in continuous sunlight for 18 earth years, just like our poles have a continuous day during summer), then you'd expect the effect to be gradual, but it's apparently pretty abrupt.

      So, unexplained surprising phenomenon. Always interesting.

      --
      I believe posters are recognized by their sig. So I made one.
  2. broadband imaging by helioquake · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Considering this is a broad-band IR imaging, isn't it plausible that the bright spot in the south pole is not due to strong thermal continuum, but instead due to strong emission line features?

    I wonder if Saturn is too bright for the Spitzer's spectrogrpah.

    1. Re:broadband imaging by astrobabe · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Given that I work for Spitzer. . .yes. Saturn is on the list of bright sources that will saturate the detectors except possibly short exposures in high resolution mode of IRS. Given that we've accidentally slewed the telescope across it though and left latents, we probably won't be observing it any time soon.