And this time we will follow what is happening in the poles and the emissions of the planet Saturn in the radio field. Last article in the series
Temperatures
A series of photographs from telescopes on Earth on April 2.4.2004, 70 in infrared measured temperatures in Saturn's atmosphere. Warming in the Southern Hemisphere was expected since during this period summer reigned in this region. What was not expected was temperature changes in the latitudes in the troposphere. A sharp warming near the latitude S° XNUMX from
C ° 185 – to C ° 184 to C ° 182 above the pole (35).
Although during a period of more than 10 years of winter darkness in the North Pole a brown spot (hot spot) similar to the one found in the summer South Pole was found. It was a complete surprise to the researchers. As for the South Pole, the assessment was that the heat was related to the light coming from the Sun. Infrared observations showed that the shadowed vortex in the North Pole has a similar structure and temperature to the summer South Pole. In the center of the heat spots there is a reduction in phosphine (phosphorus hydrogen phosphine), an instability caused by air movements to the lower part of the atmosphere, the troposphere. The vortices at both poles have a long life span and have nothing to do with the heat reaching the poles from sunlight. The hot spots are a product of air movement towards the poles that is compressed and heated as it sinks deep into the atmosphere. Despite the similarity between the two poles there is a difference between them. (36).
North pole
An unusual shape of a hexagon was discovered at the North Pole. In fact, the Voyager spacecraft noticed it for the first time in low resolution. The formation extends forever to latitude N° 78 ..a series of photographs taken over 12 days on 30.10-11.11.2006 showed that this formation does not move from its place. It is not in motion like clouds. Its depth is at least 75 km (atmospheric pressure of 3 bar) and its location is below the clouds as observed by the Voyagers(37). Night photographs of the pole that combine visible and infrared light reveal that this area is dynamic. In one of the photographs, the hexagon is surrounded by a blue color. This color indicates the emission of excitable particles into the atmosphere. These particles return to it powerfully along the lines of Saturn's powerful magnetic field. The blue color is actually the aurora borealis. The red color at a wavelength of 5 microns indicates the heat created in the hot depths of Saturn(38). Later measurements showed that the length of each side of the hexagon is 12,500 km and the depth is 100 km. The origin of the hexagon is unclear and several possibilities have been put forward to explain the phenomenon. According to one hypothesis, in the center of the hexagon is a rotating cylinder of gas stretching thousands of kilometers deep into Saturn, and the cloudy sides of this configuration are the result of interaction with gas that rotates around itself at a lower speed at the edges of the cylinder that does not rotate around itself as quickly. According to another explanation, the hexagon is a product of the interaction between wavy movements in the atmosphere and gas pushing them upwards(39). The wind speed at latitude N°88.3 is 520 km/h. Inside the hexagon there are clouds moving at a speed higher than 500 km/h. Above the pole is a cloud 600 km long (40).
south pole
In ground-based infrared observations of Saturn from the Keck I telescope in Hawaii, a hot spot was discovered just above the South Pole. According to the researchers' assessment, this is a polar vortex and the highest temperatures were measured in it until this measurement. On Earth such a brown spot is a weather pattern associated with the jet stream occurring in the upper atmosphere. The terrestrial polar vortex is located over eastern North America and Canada and it throws cold arctic air across the northern plains of the USA. The polar vortex in Antarctica traps air and creates unusual chemistry such as the effects from which ozone develops. Polar vortices are also found on Jupiter, Mars and Venus and are colder than their surroundings. The observations on Saturn revealed hotter eddies. There is no equivalent for this on Earth. Atmospheric warmings of this kind on Earth are short-lived and on Saturn they have been observed for at least two years. It is possible that the heat changes are related to the sunlight absorbed in the upper atmosphere. This approach is the explanation for the black color, the brown spot in visible light, and where the highest temperatures have been measured on Saturn, but it does not explain why the particles themselves are concentrated in the southern part of Saturn and especially around the south pole. Drawing dry air into the atmosphere can explain this effect which is consistent with observations on The clouds of the troposphere. Additional observations are needed to confirm this hypothesis 41).
One of the photographs on November 5.11.2007, 5.04 was taken at a wavelength of 50 microns. At this wavelength, the internal heat of Saturn creates an internal haze in which the deep clouds are visible in shading, therefore dark spots represent thick clouds while bright areas represent clearings in the clouds. In the next photo the polar vortex is bright and almost clear of clouds. The dark spots reveal thick convection clouds hiding at depths of 125-2 km (in pressure zones of 5-42 bar) under the haze. At the edge of the polar region where the blue-green haze begins, a ring of cloud can be seen surrounding the star. Strands of filamentous cloud can be seen moving in a spiral motion into the ring, which indicates movement in a north-south direction within the atmosphere (16.6.2008). In the photograph taken on 70. 15,000 you can fully see the cyclone that is in the pole, with the eye in the center and it extends to latitude S ° 40 and its radius is XNUMX km (XNUMX).
A photograph from 14.7.2008/XNUMX/XNUMX is one of the most detailed photographs of the polar vortex. In this photograph, formations seen in previous photographs as puffy clouds with low resolution are actually strong convection storms forming an inner ring. These are convective structures. Beneath the atmospheric haze, one of the deep structures rose up and created a small vortex of its own. The eye is similar to the eye of a terrestrial hurricane but on a larger scale. The eye is warm similar to its counterpart on Earth and is locked over the pole, when a terrestrial hurricane is located Motion.
Convective structures are by nature small areas of intense upwelling, but the clean air of the eye of the vortex shows that it is usually an area of downwelling. Convection plays an important role in the energy balance of a planet, since the rise in heat carries heat from inside the star. In terrestrial hurricanes, convection occurs in the walls of the eye. The same is true of Saturn. The photograph of the eye is made at a wavelength where gases like methane are transparent, which allows a view towards deeper clouds. Photographs of "methane bands" (methane bands) of the South Pole vortex show that the convection clouds do not reach the top, to the base of the stratosphere like terrestrial convection clouds (43).
Infrared photographs in daylight in the summer season show that there are hundreds of dark cloud patches in the entire area. As in the Northern Hemisphere, here too the clouds are storm-like processes. Thunderstorms occur 100 km below the clouds and they probably contain ammonium hydrosulfide as well as a mixture of substances coming from the depths of the atmosphere. In contrast, most of Saturn's haze and clouds are made of ammonia that condenses at altitude (44).
Aurora
From extended observations towards the South Pole it became clear that the aurora phenomenon also occurs there. The observations were from the Hubble telescope and the Hexsini. Ultraviolet observations picked up auroras for several weeks. The Hexini picked up radio wave emissions from the same area. While measuring the solar wind, it became clear that Saturn's polar aurora differs from the terrestrial one. Saturn's aurora can move around the pole for days, and on other days it can remain stationary. On Earth, the aurora lasts for several hours. To the researchers' surprise, it turned out that the Sun's magnetic field and the solar wind have an effect on the polar aurora, much more than they thought. When they combined photographs from Hubble and photographs from the Cassini of The solar wind, it was found that the pressure of the solar wind drives the aurora borealis. On Earth, the Sun's magnetic field carried by the solar wind is the main factor driving the aurora. Seen from space, the aurora looks like a ring that surrounds the polar region, in the same place where the magnetic pole is located. When Saturn's aurora becomes brighter and its intensity increases, the diameter of the energy ring encircling the pole is small. On Earth, when the aurora gets brighter, the polar region is illuminated for several minutes, the ring of light darkens and begins to expand. Jupiter's polar aurora is not affected by the solar wind and it gets brighter once a month. The aurora on Saturn gets brighter where the night of Saturn is replaced by daylight (45). In the photographs from May 21.5.2005, 46, it became clear that the aurora in the polar regions react to changes in the solar wind. As on Earth, the aurora borealis on Saturn occurs at the poles and there are also spots and streaks. In these areas the aurora lasts at least an hour, although small changes can be discerned within them. On Earth, light comes from oxygen atoms and nitrogen molecules. On Saturn, the source of light is hydrogen atoms and molecules(XNUMX).
radio waves
As mentioned earlier in the lightning chapter, it turned out that Saturn emits radio waves. Hexini began to discover radio waves when it was 161 million km away from it and that their strength is a million times greater than those created by lightning on Earth. On Earth, lightning is detected in the AM frequency, a technique that was also used by the Cassini. What surprised the researchers were the changes in the rate of radio wave emission, 10 days 45 minutes and 45 seconds ± 36 seconds. This is also the length of Saturn's day. What is special about Saturn in this respect is that its magnetic axis corresponds to its rotation axis. The meaning is that there is no wobble induction due to its rotation around its axis (wobble rotation) in the magnetic field, so there must be a secondary effect that controls the radio waves (47).
One of the formations identified in the Southern Hemisphere in the Storm Avenue was named the Dragon Storm and was a powerful source of radio wave emission on September 7-9.2007, XNUMX. The radio waves from this storm are similar to short bursts of static electricity generated by lightning on Earth. Xexini discovered these bursts as the storm rose above the horizon on Saturn's night side as seen from the spacecraft. The outbursts ceased as the storm entered the daytime zone. These eruptions and their cessation were repeated in a large number of rotations of Saturn around its axis over several weeks. This clock-like cycle shows that the storm and the radio wave bursts are related to each other. It was estimated that the dragon storm is thunder of enormous dimensions whose precipitation generates electricity as it happens on Earth. It is possible that the storm sucks its energy from the depths of the atmosphere. A question that arose is why the radio bursts occur when the dragon storm is below the horizon on the night side and ends on the day side and is still within the field of view of the spacecraft. A possible explanation is that the source of the lightning is to the east of the visible cloud. Most likely it is deeper, a place where the currents are in an easterly direction relative to the currents at the top of the clouds. If this explanation is correct, then the source of the lightning will appear above the night horizon and descend below the daytime horizon before the cloud The observed. This hypothesis can explain the timing of a visible storm relative to radio bursts.
The dragon storm is also of interest for another reason. By examining photographs of the atmosphere over several months, it became clear that the storm occurs in parts of the atmosphere that previously created bright and large convection storms. The storm has a long life span that occurs deep within the atmosphere in a cyclical manner, blowing up bright white flames fading over time. An observation that took place in July 2004 was also associated with strong radio bursts. An earlier observation in March 2004 observed 3 small elliptical storms ejected from one of the arms of a large storm. These two storms merged with each other. The northerly wind stream carried the third storm to the west and the Cassini lost contact with it. Dark, small storms like these usually stretch out until they merge with counter currents to the north and south. These small currents are the "source of food" for large atmospheric formations including large ellipticals and east and west direction currents. If the origin of the small storms is lightning of enormous dimensions, then together they form a "food chain" that collects the energy coming from the depths of the atmosphere and helps to maintain powerful energy currents(48).
The emission of radio waves is called Saturn Kilometric Radiation and it is created together with the aurora borealis. What is interesting is that the emission of radio waves from Saturn and the Earth are similar (49). The structure of the waves shows that there are several small sources of radio waves moving along the magnetic field lines passing through the auroral regions (50).
electrical storms
Electrical storms on Saturn are similar to thunderstorms on Earth, but on a larger scale. The diameter of the storms on Saturn is thousands of kilometers and the radio signals generated by the lightning are thousands of times stronger than those on Earth. If the storms observed in 2004 and 2006 each lasted a month, the storm that occurred in 2008 lasted several months. This storm was observed in the storm corridor. The Xsini observed the storm every time it entered the field of view every 10 hours - 40 minutes. Every few seconds the storm emits a signal Radio lasting one-tenth of a second typical of lightning and other electrical discharges. These radio waves are also picked up when the storm is over the horizon line from the Xsini's point of view(17).
Bursts of energy
An extraordinary phenomenon that can testify to what is happening inside Saturn is powerful bursts of energy and which still have no explanation. The only thing that can be done at the moment is to sort them according to their formal appearance and for illustration several examples will be presented.
1. Bright spots tens of thousands of kilometers long that break out of the atmosphere into space (51).
2. A flash of light coming out of an opening-like configuration (52).
3. A beam of light emitted from a spotlight-like configuration along all or part of the rings (53).
4. A thick beam of light (54).
Sources:
35.PIA07008 : Saturn's hot spot
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07008
36. "Hot cyclones churn at both ends of Saturn"
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=24418
37.PIA09188: Saturn's active north pole
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09188
38.PIA09185: Saturn's north pole hexagon and aurora
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09185
39. Mounting mysteries at Saturn keep scientists guessing" 27.8.2007
http://www.alien-earth.org/news/item.php?keyid1377&category=2&page=1
40.PIA11216 : Infrared images of Saturn's poles
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA11216
41. "Saturn's strange hot spot explained" 5.2. 2005
http://www.holoscience.com/news.php?=article=1xz2g6tn&pf-YES
42.PIA11214 : Saturn's south polar region revealed
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA11214
43.PIA11104 : Convection in Saturn's southern vortex
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA11104
44."Giant cyclones at Saturn's pole swirl mystery" 13.10.2008
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0810/13saturn
45."NASA spacecraft help solve Saturn's mysterious auroras" 17.2.2005
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cassini-05x.html
46.PIA06436 : Saturn's auroras
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA06436
47. "Saturn lightning, rotation discoveries made" 20.12.2004
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/cassini/041220lightning.html
48. PIA06197 : The Dragon Storm
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA06197
49. "Saturn's radio emissions could be mistaken for Halloween sound track" 26.7.2005
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cassini-05zzl.html
50.PIA07966: Eerie sounds of Saturn's radio emissions
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07966
51.http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/raw/casJPGBrowseS12W00008604.jpg
52.W00026901.jpg
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/raw/raw-images-details.cfm?feiImageID=116605
53.W00040489.jpg
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/raw/ raw-images- details.cfm?feiImageID= 138958
54. http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/raw/ raw-images-ist.cfm?StartlRow&=17&cadeq=1&browseLatest=1&storedQ=1661569
