NASA Cassini Image: Saturn Storm's Explosive Power

This set of images from NASA's Cassini mission shows the turbulent power of a monster Saturn storm. 

The visible-light image in the back, obtained on Feb. 25, 2011, by Cassini's imaging camera, shows the turbulent clouds churning across the face of Saturn.

The inset infrared image, obtained a day earlier, by Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer, shows the dredging up of water and ammonia ices from deep in Saturn's atmosphere.

This was the first time water ice was detected in Saturn's atmosphere. The storm, first detected by Cassini's radio and plasma wave subsystem in December 2011, churned around the planet in a band around 33 degrees north.

Image Credit: NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ SSI/ Univ. of Arizona/ Univ. of Wisconsin

Read the full article on NASA JPL Photojournal site