Dramatic energy imbalance discovered on SaturnThe energy imbalance on a planet is the difference between the amount of energy that it absorbs, and the amount of energy emitted back into space.
The researchers reexamined data captured by the Cassini probe and discovered a significant and previously unknown seasonal energy imbalance on Saturn.
Earth, by comparison has a very small orbital eccentricity, and does not experience a significant energy imbalance like Saturn.
Energy imbalance may play a role in giant storms on SaturnWhile Earth takes a lap around the Sun every year, Saturn does so in 30 Earth years.
The research indicates that the energy imbalance on Saturn can play a crucial role in the development of giant storms, which are the dominant weather phenomenon in the skies on Saturn.
Dramatic energy imbalance discovered on Saturn
The energy imbalance on a planet is the difference between the amount of energy that it absorbs, and the amount of energy emitted back into space.
An image of Saturn captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. (Image Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, Amy Simon, NASA-GSFC).
New Delhi: Researchers have revealed a substantial energy imbalance on Saturn, shedding new light on planetary science, that challenges the conventional climate models for the gas giants in the Solar System. The researchers reexamined data captured by the Cassini probe and discovered a significant and previously unknown seasonal energy imbalance on Saturn. Every planet in the solar system, including the Earth receives energy from the Sun in the form of solar radiation, and loses energy by emitting thermal radiation or heat.
Saturn and the other gas giants have another source of energy input, from deep within their interiors, that affect the thermal structure of the atmosphere and the climate. Saturn has a large orbital eccentricity. The difference between its closest approach to the Sun over an orbit, or the perihelion varies by 20 per cent from the aphelion, or the farthest it gets from the Sun. Earth, by comparison has a very small orbital eccentricity, and does not experience a significant energy imbalance like Saturn.
Energy imbalance may play a role in giant storms on Saturn
While Earth takes a lap around the Sun every year, Saturn does so in 30 Earth years. While the seasons last only a few months on Earth, they last for longer than seven years on Saturn. The research indicates that the energy imbalance on Saturn can play a crucial role in the development of giant storms, which are the dominant weather phenomenon in the skies on Saturn.
A paper describing the findings has been published in Nature Communications. Corresponding author of the study, Liming Li says, “This is the first time that a global energy imbalance on a seasonal scale has been observed on a gas giant. Not only does this give us new insight into the formation and evolution of planets, but it also changes the way we should think about planetary and atmospheric science.”
