Eleven Years on Saturn - awesome composite image

Saturn over 11 years - A composite of images taken over the past eleven years showing the changing appearance of Saturn from its southern summer (top left) to northern summer (bottom right.)

[link to sen.com]


Top left starts in 2004 and bottom right ends in 2015. During that time Saturn has moved from southern summer to northern summer. The changing tilt of the rings as seen from Earth across the years is obvious. This image actually represents less than half of a Saturnian year which is not far short of 30 Earth years!


Perhaps more interesting is the changes in the colors of Saturn's belts and zones from year to year. No two years does it appear the same. Also note the hemisphere in shadow, pointing away from the Sun appears notably blue in colour and gradually the colour tones become warmer as more sunlight causes changes in the upper atmosphere of the planet. This is clearly seen as we see the northern hemisphere of the planet gradually coming into view between 2004-2009.

Image Copyright SEN/D. Peach