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Article: Saturn: finding the hots ... and tracking a recent storm. (Astronomy) (Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- November 23, 1991
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1991 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Using an infrared camera, astronomers have imaged several "hot spots" never before detected on Saturn. Richard L. Baron and Tobias C. Owen of the University of Hawaii in Honolulu say the infrared-bright regions likely represent holes on the thick, heat-absorbing layer of clouds believed to blanket Saturn's lower atmosphere. The holes, they say, permit heat from the planet's interior to leak out into space.
Ordinary photographs do not reveal the hot regions, since the shorter wavelengths associated with visible light cannot penetrate Saturn's dense upper atmosphere, Owen notes. And researchers who previously searched fo rhot spots with infrared telescopes ...