Explanation:
Late last year, a new, remarkably
bright storm erupted in
Saturn's northern hemisphere.
Nicknamed "the Serpent Storm", the northern hemisphere disturbance
is still going strong and now
circles
far around the planet.
Offering spectacular
space-based views to the Saturn-orbiting
Cassini spacecraft,
the storm shows enough contrast with the banded
cloud tops to be visible with even modest ground-based
equipment, as seen in
this sharp image
from Buena Vista, Georgia, USA, planet Earth.
Amateur
astronomers first spotted the bright storm in early December 2010,
with the ringed gas giant rising in predawn skies, and
continue to monitor
the storm's progress.
