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convection

Trapped Gas Explains Saturn’s Fresh Face

May 8, 2013

Want to stay on top of all the space news? Follow @universetoday on Twitter The mystery of Saturn’s bright, youthful appearance is a step closer to resolution. And it actually has to do with gas. Layers of gas within the ringed giant trap heat emanating from the center, preventing the planet from cooling off as [...]

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An Enormous Arctic Spiral

February 14, 2013

Looking south across the southern tip of Greenland, this satellite image shows an enormous cloud vortex spiraling over the northern Atlantic ocean on January 26, 2013. An example of the powerful convection currents in the upper latitudes, these polar low cyclones are created when the motion of cold air is energized by the warmer ocean water [...]

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Surprising Swirls Above Titan’s South Pole

July 10, 2012

Thanks to Cassini’s new vantage point granted by its inclined orbit researchers have gotten a new look at the south pole of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. What they’ve recently discovered is a swirling vortex of gas forming over the moon’s pole, likely the result of the approach of winter on Titan’s southern hemisphere. Remove this [...]

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“Cool” Gas May Be At The Root Of Sunspots

February 1, 2012

Although well over 40 years old, the Dunn Solar Telescope at Sunspot, New Mexico isn’t going to be looking at an early retirement. On the contrary, it has been outfitted with the new Facility Infrared Spectropolarimeter (FIRS) and is already making news on its solar findings. FIRS provides simultaneous spectral coverage at visible and infrared [...]

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Stellar X-Rays Strip Planet To Bare Bones

September 15, 2011

Some 880 light years away, a star named CoRoT-2a is busy decimating one of its planets – CoRoT-2b. Orbiting the parent star at a distance of over two million miles is dangerous business in this cosmic neighborhood. While the intrepid exoplanet might be about a thousand times the size of Earth right now, it’s getting [...]

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