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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. "

6 of 49 comments (clear)

  1. Better by QMO · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I thought that this article was interesting in that it gave the information, explained that the information was incomplete, explained that the information was incompatible with some common ideas about how things work, and didn't try to scare me into anything.

    I didn't see any "as many as" or "could be the most" or even "may destroy civilization as we know it."

    Maybe if there were more political overtones to this topic the article would be more normal?

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    Exam 4/C again. Maybe I'll do better this time.
  2. Warm pole? by base3 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I swear, sometimes the jokes just write themselves!

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    One CPU cycle wasted on digital restrictions management is ONE TOO MANY.
  3. I know where this came from by AtariAmarok · · Score: 3, Funny

    Didn't this come from the book of "Roman God Pickup Lines" ?

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    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
  4. $PLANET has a warm pole... by NanoGator · · Score: 4, Funny

    If it'd been Uranus, I think I woulda called in sick today.

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    "Derp de derp."
    1. Re:$PLANET has a warm pole... by deglr6328 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Since Uranus is tilted on its axis almost ninety degrees it is very likely that the same polar vortex mechanism is at work there (probably even bigger effect than on Saturn) too and we jest haven't seen it yet due to a lack of angular resolution from our ground telescopes. So yes, Uranus probably does have a big hot pole!

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  5. You're not doing it right. by WaterBreath · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Saturn's "south" pole is warm

    Okay, I'm gonna be nitpicky here... Why in the world is the word "south", within quotation marks in the post?

    Any planet with a magnetic field will have a south pole (and a north pole, of course), which will probably be on the rotational axis of the planet, and which will not necessarily point the same direction in 3-space as Earth's south pole. The linked story doesn't make a distinction. And a quick Google search shows that none of the major science news outlets have put the "south" in quotes, or made any note that it might not actually be the magnetic south pole. So, why would the poster feel it's necessary to throw in the quotes? A failed attempt at being clever?