A MYSTERY GLOWS ON SATURN

[Richard]

Posted: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 7:20 PM by Alan Boyle

Saturn's northern aurora glows bluish-green in this color-coded infrared image.
The planet's polar cloud patterns are shown in shades of red. Scientists say that the areas of auroral activity close to the pole shouldn't be there.

Scientists say the northern lights on Saturn are unlike anything they've ever seen, on Earth or elsewhere in the solar system. Infrared imagery from the Cassini orbiter, released today to accompany research published in the journal Nature, only adds to the mystery at the top of the ringed planet.

Saturn's north pole is already home to a bizarre six-sided cyclone that planetary scientists haven't yet figured out. That observation marked the first time a hexagon had been seen in atmospheric patterns. The northern auroral displays, monitored by Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer, also go against the conventional wisdom.

On Earth and Jupiter, for instance, astronomers are used to seeing auroral arcs or rings of light - which glow when energetic particles stream along a planet's magnetic field and interact with the atmosphere. The auroras on Earth, also known as the northern or southern lights, are sparked by the solar wind. Jupiter's main auroral ring is powered by the planet's own magnetic processes.

Saturn's main auroral ring, like Earth's, is caused by the solar wind. But the newly observed infrared displays go all over the place.

"We've never seen an aurora like this elsewhere," the University of Leicester's Tom Stallard, lead author of the Nature paper, said today in a NASA news release. "It's not just a ring of aurorae like those we've seen at Jupiter or Earth. This one covers an enormous area across the pole. Our current ideas on what forms Saturn's aurorae predict that this region should be empty, so finding such a bright one here is a fantastic surprise."

The Hubble Space Telescope has observed Saturn's ultraviolet aurora before, but the widespread infrared aurora wasn't seen because the region where it appears was hidden from Hubble's sight. Cassini, which has been circling Saturn and its satellites for more than four years, has had a much better view of the polar region.

The northern infrared aurora has been seen to change size and intensity dramatically as the solar wind varies. Occasionally, it fades completely away, over a period of as little as 45 minutes.

"Saturn's unique auroral features are telling us there is something special and unforeseen about this planet's magnetosphere and the way it interacts with the solar wind and the planet's atmosphere," said Nick Achilleos of the University College London, a member of the $3.5 billion Cassini mission's magnetometer team. "Trying to explain its origin will no doubt lead us to physics which uniquely operates in the environment of Saturn."

For earlier intimations of Saturn's weird light shows, check out this report from New Scientist, based on research Nature published in June. For the latest about all of Saturn's mysteries, click on over to the Cassini mission's Web site at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. You might also enjoy learning more about Saturn's spooky southern hurricane. While you're at it, don't miss our "Best of Cassini" slide show. And did I mention that Mars, Uranus and Neptune have auroral displays as well?

http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2...71310.aspx

[Iam_That_Iam]

Could it be KBA manipulation... or some thing... ?

[MC]

I doubt it'a a manipulation by the KBA.What I would be interested in knowing,is what is happening with Cassini.
There was a paln originally to crash Cassini at the poles,
because Cassini is carying a payload of 72 lbs of Plutonium,
which is equivalent to a 600 kiloton explosion.In order to get an idea of how big of an explosion this would be,the Nagasaki explosion was 22 kilotons.The reason for this madness.With a Saturn ignition,frozen Titan would become Earthlike and inhabitable.This is why I am posing the question as to what is going on with Cassini.

[Anu-021413]

I tend to take MSNBC articles of the science kind with a grain of salt.I'm aware of the cassini payload,and the whole project lucifer thing. They are trying to thaw out and create a livable planet. But that takes thousands of years,and even if they were successful,they'd probably roast it along with the Earth as well. Which is why I always thought of it as a way to try to eliminate the KBA in the vicinity. At least that's where thing point to. Besides,why do it IF it wouldn't/couldn't work? Someone must think they know it could in order to even go through with it twice.

[Sily]

It reminds me of Michelle Obama's dress.

[MC]

Ha,ha,good point Sily.Anu,there are things that should be taken with a grain of salt,and there are things that shouldn't.No,it doesn't take 1000's of years if you have the technology and the know how.They have already achieved results with other schemes.

[Anu-021413]

Moon Child[/color]]Ha,ha,good point Sily.Anu,there are things that should be taken with a grain of salt,and there are things that shouldn't.No,it doesn't take 1000's of years if you have the technology and the know how.They have already achieved results with other schemes.

True andfair enough. Though I was thinking of the NWO in terms of trying to play the God role and cobbing the attempt.

[MC]

But don't forget that they have technology that is hidden from the public,that they use.