Explanation:
Presently at opposition
in planet Earth's sky,
Saturn is well placed
for telescopic
observations.
On Wednesday two amateur astronomers took full advantage of
the situation from Melun, near Paris, France.
With a 12 inch diameter telescope and
web cam they recorded
this sharp image of the
ringed gas giant
and made an
exciting discovery --
a new storm on Saturn.
The storm appears as the white spot visible here in
Saturn's southern hemisphere (south is toward the top in
the picture).
In particular, the storm seems to correspond with an outburst
of radio noise detected by the Cassini spacecraft.
The phenomenon is likely similar to the
Dragon Storm recorded by
Cassini's instruments
early last year.
That storm is thought to be analogous to a terrestrial
thunderstorm,
with radio noise produced in high-voltage
lightning discharges.
