Bright White Storm Raging on Saturn

By Nancy Atkinson - December 16, 2010 07:22 AM UTC | Planetary Science

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About a week ago, a bright white storm emerged on Saturn's northern hemisphere, and amateur astronomer/planet astrophotographer extraordinaire Anthony Wesley from Australia has captured a few images of it. "This is the brightest Saturn storm in decades," Anthony said on

his website, Ice In Space.

"If you get a chance to see it visually then take it, as it may be one of the rare "Great White Spot" (GWS) outbreaks on Saturn."

Great White Spots, or Great White Ovals occur periodically on Saturn, and are usually large enough to be visible by telescope from Earth by their characteristic white appearance. The spots can be several thousands of kilometers wide.

Anthony joked that the outburst on Saturn might happening because the planet getting a little jealous that Jupiter has been getting lately with the

reappearance of the Southern Equatorial Belt.

See a few more images from Anthony below.

[caption id="attachment_81776" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Another view of the white storm on Saturn. Image courtesy of Anthony Wesley, used by permission."]

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This infrared view shows a hint of structure in the outline of the storm. "There seems to be an extension developing to the southeast," Anthony pointed out. Rhea is also visible in the image.

[caption id="attachment_81777" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="A CH4 image of Saturn taken by Anthony Wesley, where the storm does not show up. Credit: Anthony Wesley, used by permission."]

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In the above image, the storm doesn't show up. "Interestingly the CH4 (methane) image doesn't show the storm at all," Anthony said. "I'm not sure if this is simply because CH4 is not useful on Saturn (maybe these storms are too low in the atmosphere to get any return?)"

Thanks to Anthony Wesley for sharing his images with Universe Today. See more of his images at

Ice in Space

, and his other gallery site,

"Birds Astronomy Site"

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com