Mystery of Saturn’s Hot Upper Atmosphere Solved

In a significant new study, a team of scientists has been able to solve the mystery of hot upper atmosphere of Saturn, and possibly other gas giants like Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. The Sun is too far from these planets to cause the heating. Therefore, it remained to be known as to what caused the hot upper layers of their atmospheres.

Key Findings

• This is the most complete mapping yet of both temperature and density of a gas giant’s upper atmosphere wherein researchers studied data from the Cassini spacecraft which observed Saturn for over 13 years.
• The study revealed that electric ....