After-effects of Saturn’s super storm shine on

After-effects of Saturn's super storm shine on The heat-seeking capabilities of the international Cassini spacecraft and two ground-based telescopes have provided the first look at the aftermath of Saturn's 'Great Springtime Storm'. Concealed from the naked eye, a giant oval vortex is persisting long after the visible effects of the storm subsided. The ground-based observations were made by the Very Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory in Chile, and NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility at the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii. The vivid cloud structures that wreaked havoc across wide swathes of the mid-northern latitudes of Saturn's atmosphere captured the imaginations of amateur and professional astronomers alike, from its first appearance in December 2010 through much of 2011. But in new reports that focus on the temperatures, winds and composition of Saturn's atmosphere, scientists find that the spectacular cloud displays were only part of the story. Much of the associated activity took place beyond the reach of visible-light cameras, and the after-effects are still continuing today. Evolution of infrared hotspots in Saturn's springtime storm "It's the first time we've seen anything like it on any planet in the Solar System," says Leigh Fletcher from the University of Oxford, UK, lead author of the Icarus paper.