Using the “eye” of one of the world’s strongest radio telescopes, scientists have observed a superstorm that has been raging for 100 years on Saturn, uncovering some unusual findings.
Led by Associate Professor Cheng Li from the University of Michigan, the research utilized the Very Large Array radio telescope located in New Mexico to peer through the upper haze of Saturn, hoping to find chemical remnants of a superstorm observed in 2010.
A superstorm outbreak on Saturn – (Photo: NASA).
This is a series of superstorm outbreaks that have been overlapping on Saturn for over 100 years, still observable in the planet’s atmosphere today, rather than something newly created in just a few years or a decade.
This phenomenon only truly manifests in radio images, which reveal persistent chemical anomalies that are remnants of ancient superstorms, appearing to have dissipated but still stirring the atmosphere, mingling with newer phenomena.
Thus, it can be said that what they are observing is not the superstorm of 2010 as imagined, but rather a 100-year-old persistent superstorm that continues to be active.
The leading hypothesis for this is that the outbursts of the superstorm have driven some mysterious ammonia transport processes, pulling ammonia gas from the upper atmosphere of Saturn deep below, possibly in the form of ammonia hail.
These ammonia balls fall into the atmosphere before evaporating back, in a continuous cycle, creating a chaotic process that has lasted for hundreds of years after a storm disappears from regular imaging.
According to Professor Li, these results not only explain the reality of the “Great White Spot” that appears approximately every 20-30 years in Saturn’s northern hemisphere but also challenge our understanding of meteorological boundaries.
Since 1876, scientists have observed six “great storms” on Saturn, which this study suggests may actually be six outbreaks of a larger, more persistent monster that has enveloped the planet for 100 years.
Research continues as the aforementioned superstorm continues to reveal unusual radio signals that scientists have yet to fully explain.
