NASA (National Aero Space Agency) published photos of Saturn’s hexagonal storm on the North pole, made by the probe “Cassini” (Cassini) on the second day of solstice.
Solstice on Saturn occurs approximately every 15 earth years, this is the longest day of summer in the Northern hemisphere and the shortest day in the southern hemisphere. To observe the change of seasons under the solstice was the main objective of the second multi-year mission, the probe, the so-called Solstice Mission (the Solstice). During the mission, scientists have observed a full cycle of seasons on Saturn “closeup”. On Saturn the seasons are pretty sharp and impressive, and thanks to Cassini, scientists were able to observe his “first series”.
In late April, Cassini began maneuvers, including 22 pass between Saturn and his inner ring. The result of the maneuvers he will be completely immersed in the atmosphere on 15 September, the planning samounichtozhitsya. However, it can fail before.
Recall that the probe “Cassini” was created by NASA in collaboration with the European space Agency and the Italian space Agency. It is designed to study Saturn, its rings and satellites. The probe was launched on 15 October 1997 and 1 July 2004 and entered the orbit of Saturn.