Saturn reveals rare hot spot

Astronomers using a giant telescope atop a volcano have discovered a hot spot at the tip of Saturn's south pole.

Astronomers using a giant telescope atop a volcano have discovered a hot spot at the tip of Saturn's south pole.

HT Image

The infrared images captured by the Keck I telescope at the WM Keck Observatory atop Mauna Kea on the Big Island suggest a warm polar vortex — a large-scale weather pattern likened to a jet stream on Earth that occurs in the upper atmosphere. It is the first such hot vortex ever discovered in the solar system.

The images will be published in Friday’s edition of the journal Science.

Polar vortices are found on Earth, Jupiter, Mars and Venus, and are colder than their surroundings. The new images from the Keck Observatory show the first evidence of a polar vortex at much warmer temperatures.