Current Events

  • Atmospheric CO2 Level Tops 400 ppm
    During the week of May 13th, the CO2 level at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii topped 400 ppm rep...Read more

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    Atmospheric CO2 Level Tops 400 ppm

    During the week of May 13th, the CO2 level at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii topped 400 ppm repeatedly. Daily levels of CO2 can vary due to weather, and there are seasonal trends as well. The level of atmospheric greenhouse gases continues to increase, now over 120 ppm since the Industrial Revolution began. For more on the Keeling Curve, see http://keelingcurve.ucsd.edu/. Find out more about greenhouse gases and warming.
  • Massive Tornado Outbreak on Tornado Alley
    The week of May 19 brings dozens of tornadoes to Tornado Alley in the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Io...Read more

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    Massive Tornado Outbreak on Tornado Alley

    The week of May 19 brings dozens of tornadoes to Tornado Alley in the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri. On May 20th, a massive tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma, devastating communities - destroying over 100 homes and hitting two elementary schools and a hospital - with many casualties and deaths. Our thoughts are with our friends and colleagues suffering from these storms. For more on the May 20th storms, see the NOAA Storm Prediction Center Storm Report.
  • Kansas Legislator Proposes Bill to Outlaw Sustainability Education
    A bill has been introduced in the Kansas legislature this week that would prohibit the promotion of ...Read more

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    Kansas Legislator Proposes Bill to Outlaw Sustainability Education

    A bill has been introduced in the Kansas legislature this week that would prohibit the promotion of sustainability. Here is a link to the one-page bill: http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/measures/documents/hb2366_00_0000.pdf. See report on Bloomberg News.
This is a schematic of the interior of Saturn.
NASA

The Liquid Hydrogen Layer

The first liquid layer inside Saturn, immediately under the atmosphere, is the liquid hydrogen layer. The hydrogen atmosphere becomes thicker and thicker, a fog with more and more liquid hydrogen droplets, until the pressure of gas from regions above forces hydrogen to completely change from the gas form to the liquid form. This changes occurs at a depth of roughly 1000 km (650 miles) from the level of the first cloud deck. The hydrogen, in liquid form then behaves much as the terrestrial ocean does in forming currents and convection patterns for the purpose of carrying heat from the inside to the outside of Saturn.

Under the liquid hydrogen layer is a liquid metallic hydrogen layer. This layer also forms complicated currents and convection patterns, but because the layer is metallic, it is also able to conduct electricity. This property of the liquid metallic hydrogen layer, coupled with the stirring action of Saturn's terrifically fast spin rate (Saturn spins once in 10 hours), is what produces Saturn's enormously powerful and extensive magnetosphere.

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Motions in Saturn's Interior

Motions in the interior of a planet help carry heat from the inside to the outside. The drawing to the left illustrates a kind of global motion that is typical of motions in the atmosphere as well as interior...more

The Generation of Saturn's Magnetosphere

Magnetospheres are generated with 1.) magnetic materials and 2.) with motions within the magnetic material. The terrestrial planets generate magnetospheres within the iron cores at the center. This leads...more

The Source of Heat from Within Saturn

Frequently in astromony, the luminosity of a star is calculated. The luminosity indicates the energy, and the temperature of the star. When the luminosity of the outer planets was calculated, that of Jupiter...more

Motions in Saturn's Interior, part 2

Motions, or currents in the interior of a gas-giant planet such as Saturn may be very different from the motions typical of the earth's interior. A second idea for the motions in the interior of a gas-giant...more

Saturn Clouds, overview

This image of Saturn makes use of false color to emphasize the cloud pattern. The clouds form in bands which move across the disk of Saturn. The banded pattern of clouds, or stripes, is similar to those...more

The Formation of the Solar System out of the Primordial Nebula

The solar system contracted out of a rotating cloud of hydrogen and helium gas. The momentum of the rotation flattened the originally round cloud into a disk, somewhat the way a ball of pizza dough can...more

A Comparison of Saturn's Icy Moons, and the Earth's Moon

This is an image of the Earth's moon, shown in the lower left, with the six much smaller icy moons of Saturn. The moons in order, starting from the top left are: Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea,...more

Dione

Dione was discovered by G. Cassini in 1684. Dione is the 7th farthest moon from Saturn, with a standoff distance of 377,400 km. It is a small icy moon, lightly cratered, with wispy white streaks across...more

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Young Voices for the Planet DVD in our online store includes 8 films where students speak out and take action on climate change.

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