Cassini, the NASA spacecraft that had taken a dive between Saturn and its rings, has sent images of the ringed planet and they offer the closest view of the planet's atmosphere. In fact, the images show a black, storm-like feature which the scientists have termed giant hurricane.
A big and black storm-like feature has been traced on the planet Saturn. According to Space, Cassini, the NASA spacecraft has been able to capture striking images of Saturn and its rings and this storm-like feature that has been termed as the giant hurricane has taken the scientists by surprise. They are curious to explore more and have expressed happiness at the achievement of the aircraft that made the first of its 22 dives on Wednesday.
The images that Cassini has sent are the closest views of Saturn's atmosphere. A fact that NASA scientists made amply clear through a Twitter post writing that the dive gave the closest ever look at the atmosphere of Saturn and also revealed the massive hurricane. In fact, Cassini lived up to the expectations of the scientists as the project manager Earl Maize said that the spacecraft moved into the gap exactly the way they had planned and also came out on the other side in great shape.
NASA further said that the atmosphere of Saturn was found to be cool and most of it is composed of hydrogen. Also, the pressure on cloud tops of the ringed planet matches that of earth's pressure at sea level. Saturn also hosts huge temporary storms and a big one on the North Pole along with cloud layers.
It may be mentioned here that Cassini arrived at Saturn in 2004 and ever since it has been sending data to the scientists. In its current mission, the spacecraft will be making 22 dives between Saturn and its rings. The first has already taken place and the next is scheduled for May 02 with the final plunge taking place on Sep. 15.
