Hubble Telescope Captures Image of Saturn's Mysterious Spokes

Hubble Telescope Captures Image of Saturn's Mysterious Spokes

Hubble Telescope, Captures Image of Saturn's , Mysterious Spokes.

Fox News reports that NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured a remarkable new image of Saturn.

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According to the space agency, the images mark the beginning of the ringed planet's "spoke season," which comes as it reaches its equinox.

The cause of the enigmatic spokes has yet to be fully explained.

Fox News reports that Saturn's tilted axis means it has seasons just like Earth.

However, its much larger orbit means that each of Saturn's four seasons last for around seven Earth years.

The spokes were first observed by NASA's Voyager mission in the early 1980s.

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Scientists believe that the spokes are caused by the planet's magnetic field, however, this has yet to be proven.

Despite years of excellent observations by the Cassini mission, the precise beginning and duration of the spoke season is still unpredictable, rather like predicting the first storm during hurricane season, Amy Simon, NASA senior planetary scientist head of the Hubble Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy (OPAL) program, via Fox News.

Fox News reports that the last time Saturn experienced an equinox was in 2009, when the Cassini spacecraft was orbiting the massive gas giant.

It's a fascinating magic trick of nature we only see on Saturn – for now at least, Amy Simon, NASA senior planetary scientist head of the Hubble Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy (OPAL) program, via Fox News