During a flyby in July , Cassini recorded clouds blow across the large moonshine of Saturn , Titan . This may be the send-off of summer storms on the massive moon , the first fourth dimension researchers have observed cloud formation since 2010 .
A time - lapse of swarm slip around Titan , the largest moon of Saturn . Image credit : NASA / JPL - Caltech / Space Science Institute
Summer storms are an expected feature of Titan ’s atmospheric condition system , antecedently observed and predicted by atmospherical models . They are n’t quite certain why Titan has been cloud - innocent since a massive storm in 2010 , but researcher are excited to see the cloud forming again .
Clouds forming near Titan ’s north pole . Image credit : NASA / JPL - Caltech / Space Science Institute
Themethane cloudswere captured moving across Ligeia Mare , a heavy methane ocean on Titan . The timelapse enchant views between July 20th and 22nd , 2014 , with the clouds developing and then dissipating in the two - Clarence Day period . The clouds were moving at 3 to 4.5 meters per 2d ( 7 to 10 miles per hour )
The images were captured as Cassini was sidetrack Titan after a flyby . The temporal spacing between the images is uneven , making this a jerky timelapse . While the time - crack between the second and third skeleton stretches 17.5 hours , most other anatomy are separated by only one or two hours .
Is this the first of summertime storm time of year on Titan ? Image cite : NASA / JPL - Caltech / Space Science Institute
Between Saturn ’s long , slow orbit around the Lord’s Day and Titan ’s slothful mosey around Saturn , a single yr on Titan lasts about thirty Earth - age , with each time of year stretching over seven year ’s continuance . Cassini imagination team scientistElizabeth Turtle explains in a Jet Propulsion Laboratories press releasethat the attack of swarm brings its own set of questions :
“ We ’re eager to find out if the cloud ’ appearance signals the beginning of summertime atmospheric condition patterns , or if it is an isolated occurrence . Also , how are the swarm link up to the ocean ? Did Cassini just happen get them over the ocean , or do they organise there preferentially ? ”
The team has just a few more years of observations , as Cassini is at long last running low on fuel and will be making a spectacular expiration . In its2016 Grand Finale , the spacecraft will make more and more outrageous manoeuvres around Saturn before finally by design diving into the gas whale for one last splendid outburst of datum .
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