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Rapid and Extensive Surface Changes Near Titan’s Equator: Evidence of April Showers
Barnes, J. W.; Lorenz, R. D.; West, R. A. +11 more
Although there is evidence that liquids have flowed on the surface at Titan’s equator in the past, to date, liquids have only been confirmed on the surface at polar latitudes, and the vast expanses of dunes that dominate Titan’s equatorial regions require a predominantly arid climate. We report the detection by Cassini’s Imaging Science Subsystem …
Thermal Structure and Dynamics of Saturn’s Northern Springtime Disturbance
Nicholson, Philip D.; Fletcher, Leigh N.; Sotin, Christophe +16 more
Saturn’s slow seasonal evolution was disrupted in 2010-2011 by the eruption of a bright storm in its northern spring hemisphere. Thermal infrared spectroscopy showed that within a month, the resulting planetary-scale disturbance had generated intense perturbations of atmospheric temperatures, winds, and composition between 20° and 50°N over an ent…
Saturn’s Curiously Corrugated C Ring
Hedman, M. M.; Burns, J. A.; Porco, C. C. +2 more
In August 2009 the Sun illuminated Saturn’s rings from almost exactly edge-on, revealing a subtle corrugation that extends across the entire C ring. This corrugation’s amplitude is 2 to 20 meters and its wavelength is 30 to 80 kilometers. Radial trends in the corrugation’s wavelength indicate that this structure—like a similar corrugation previous…
The Impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 Sends Ripples Through the Rings of Jupiter
Hedman, Matthew M.; Showalter, Mark R.; Burns, Joseph A.
Jupiter’s main ring shows vertical corrugations reminiscent of those recently detected in the rings of Saturn. The Galileo spacecraft imaged a pair of superimposed ripple patterns in 1996 and again in 2000. These patterns behave as two independent spirals, each winding up at a rate defined by Jupiter’s gravity field. The dominant pattern originate…
Enceladus Now Looks Wet, So It May Be ALIVE!
Kerr, Richard A.