Saturn’s rotation period from its atmospheric planetary-wave configuration

P. L. Read (), T. E. Dowling and G. Schubert
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P. L. Read: University of Oxford
T. E. Dowling: University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky 40292, USA
G. Schubert: University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095-1567, USA

Nature, 2009, vol. 460, issue 7255, 608-610

Abstract: Saturn's rotation Saturn's bulk rotation period is not expected to have changed appreciably over the past few decades, so a good surrogate of the rotation period should also have remained fairly constant. Recent results from the Cassini mission raise doubts over the conventional approach towards the measurement of the interior rotation of Saturn, the period of rotation of features in the magnetosphere, since they produce a period that is approximately 7 minutes longer than 10 h 39 m 24 s measured 28 years ago by Voyager. Read et al. report a new determination of Saturn's rotation period of 10 h 34 m 13 s ± 20 s based on an analysis of potential atmospheric vorticity. This shifted reference frame is consistent with an alternating jet pattern, suggesting that Saturn's winds are more like Jupiter's than was previously thought.

Date: 2009
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DOI: 10.1038/nature08194

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