Saturn's Enigmatic "String of Pearls" and Northern Storm of 2010-2011: Manifestations of a Common Dynamical Mechanism?
Abstract
The "String of Pearls" (SoP) and the Northern Storm on Saturn near 34o north latitude may both be manifestations of convective processes at depth. As one possibility, the SoP may be a set of von Kármán vortex street features with convectively-driven updrafts as the driving obstacles. VIMS observations show marked increases in the size and latitudinal separation of the pearls (vortices) during the year prior to storm eruption, indicative of a growing convective system that may have subsequently erupted as a major thunderstorm. Other common convective mechanisms (uplift-driven Rossby waves, vortex-shedding from rising updrafts) may be possible. New VIMS images and spectra of the thunderstorm and SoP are presented.
- Publication:
-
EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2011
- Pub Date:
- October 2011
- Bibcode:
- 2011epsc.conf.1658B