What is the Great White Spot?
Q: What is the Great White Spot?
A: The Great White Spot is a storm on Saturn that is large enough to be seen by telescope from Earth.
Q: Why is it called the Great White Spot?
A: It is called the Great White Spot because the spots appear to be white and the name was based on Jupiter's Great Red Spot.
Q: How wide can the spots be?
A: The spots can be several thousands of kilometers wide.
Q: What is the Northern Electrostatic Disturbance?
A: The Northern Electrostatic Disturbance is a large band of white clouds that has covered Saturn since 2010 and is causing an increase in radio and plasma interference.
Q: What is Cassini orbiter tracking?
A: The Cassini orbiter is tracking the Northern Electrostatic Disturbance.
Q: What has the Cassini information revealed about the white clouds?
A: The Cassini information shows a loss of acetylene in the white clouds, an increase of phosphine, and an unusual temperature drop in the center of the storm.
Q: What do scientists believe the white spots are made of?
A: Scientists believe the white spots are made from ammonia ice pushed up by warmer gas through the tops of the planet's clouds.
