CE14
Europlanet Medal Lecture: Lifetime Achievement
THU-MAL |
Thu, 10 Sep, 17:35–18:00 (CEST) Room Sun (Amare Studio)
Thu, 17:35
Title: Saturn Superstorms: The Great White Spot Phenomenon
In the history of telescopic observations of Saturn, only six cases of the phenomenon known as Great Whit Spots (GWS) have been reported, in years 1876, 1903, 1933, 1960 and 2010, all of them in the northern hemisphere. A GWS is a gigantic convective storm that erupts and remains active for one or two months, generating a disturbance that propagates horizontally along the parallels, in accordance with the prevailing winds, encircling the entire planet. The disturbance also spans vertically over several hundred kilometres. We present the observations of these superstorms and the models developed to date to interpret them.