(ORDO NEWS) — An international team of astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope are observing strange streaks on Saturn’s rings.
These strokes or so-called “spokes” appear on the rings when the planet approaches the equinox. The reason for the appearance of “spokes” is still unknown.
Saturn’s rings don’t always look the same. Sometimes they have “knitting needles”
Like the Earth, Saturn’s axis of rotation is inclined to the plane of the ecliptic. Therefore, there are four seasons on Saturn. But a year on Saturn is longer than an Earth year, and each season lasts about seven Earth years.
At the moment of equinox, the rings of Saturn are turned edge-on towards the Sun. At this time, the “spokes” on the rings are the brightest.
When the summer or winter solstice approaches on Saturn, the spokes disappear.
The next autumnal equinox in the northern hemisphere of Saturn will occur on May 6, 2025. As this moment approaches, the spokes will become more prominent and prominent.
Video. Seven images from the Hubble Space Telescope, taken about four minutes apart, are stitched together to show how the “spokes” revolve around Saturn. The speed of their rotation does not coincide with the rotation of the rings or the magnetic field of the planet.
The alleged reason for the appearance of the spokes is the planet’s variable magnetic field.
Planetary magnetic fields interact with the solar wind, creating an electrically charged environment (on Earth, when these charged particles of the solar wind enter the atmosphere, the northern lights appear).
Scientists believe that the smallest particles of ice rings can be charged and rise above the ring. Then perhaps the spokes are shadows from such icy clouds.
The spokes on Saturn’s rings were first discovered by NASA‘s Voyager mission in the early 1980s.
“Thanks to the new Hubble program, which creates an archive of data on the outer planets of the solar system, we will have more time to study the spokes of Saturn this season,” says co-author Amy Simon.
Saturn’s last equinox occurred in 2009 when NASA’s Cassini probe orbited the planet. The Cassini mission ended in 2017. But Hubble continues to monitor changes in Saturn.
“Despite Cassini observations, the exact start and length of the spoke season is still unpredictable,” says Simon.
The Hubble Telescope’s Saturn Ring Observation Program will collect visual and spectroscopic data, and astronomers will compare them with the Cassini archive of observations.
Perhaps this will put the pieces of the puzzle together and finally explain the mysterious phenomenon.
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