Apart from Earth, Saturn is probably the most easily recognized of the planets in our solar system. It is the only planet with bold and easily visible rings (other planets, such as Uranus, also have rings, but they are not as opaque) and you would never confuse it with another world in our little stellar neighborhood. However, that doesn’t mean it will ever change, and NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope recently detected some very interesting color changes on the planet.
In a new post on the NASA website, the space agency highlights a document published in Journal of Planetary Sciences where scientists reveal the subtle color changes that occur on Saturn. The rings of the planet do not change much from season to season, but the colors of the planet do. A single year on Saturn equates to 29 Earth years, so we see that seasonal changes happen very slowly, but it’s clear that something is happening under the clouds.
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In fact, in 2018, 2019 and 2020, the bands on the planet changed in remarkable ways. The scientists provided a beautiful animated image to help make the color changes more obvious. Check it out for yourself:
You may not notice it immediately, but focus on the top half of the planet and watch the rings change. New rings are formed, some brighter areas become darker, and the darker region of the planet’s north pole extends significantly. These are quite important changes, especially over just three years, and point to very interesting things happening in the planet’s atmosphere and possibly below.
“These little year-to-year changes in Saturn’s color bands are fascinating. As Saturn moves toward the fall in its northern hemisphere, we see that the polar and equatorial regions change, but we are also seeing that the atmosphere varies in much shorter periods of time, ”said Amy Simon, lead author of the research. “What we found was a slight change from one year to another in color, possibly the height of the clouds and winds, so it’s no surprise that the changes aren’t huge, as we’re only looking at a small fraction of “a year of Saturn. We expect big changes on a seasonal time scale, so this shows progression towards next season.”
What is perhaps most interesting to see changes like these in the visible upper layer of Saturn is what it could mean for the changes that occur most profoundly on the planet. No one really knows what is inside the gas giant planets like Saturn and Jupiter, and it is possible that some or all of these planets have solid inner nuclei surrounded by liquids and gases. We don’t yet have the technology to look deep into the thick layers of clouds, but one day we could, and these observations could provide us with clues that reveal where the colors come from and what causes the changes.
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Mike Wehner has reported on technology and video games over the past decade, covering breaking news and trends in VR, portable devices, smartphones and future technology. Most recently, Mike worked as a technical editor at The Daily Dot and has appeared on USA Today, Time.com and countless other web and print outlets. His love of reporting is only second to his gambling addiction.