
Cassini skims Saturn's atmosphere - alexanderdmitri
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-40902774
======
Sir_Cmpwn
NASA JPL's own website for this is a great place to keep up with developments:

[https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/](https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/)

------
saagarjha
> Researchers know it is roughly 10-and-a-half hours, but they would like a
> more precise number.

I find it interesting that something this “basic” is still not known. Couldn’t
they just take photos of how long it takes certain features, say storms or
clouds, to reappear?

~~~
tambourine_man
How do you distinguish wind from planet rotation on a gas giant? Not easy I'd
wager

~~~
saagarjha
I’m not sure it really affects the result. Wind speeds on Saturn top out at
around 1,000 miles per hour. Using some back of the napkin math, the rotation
“speed” at the equator should be well over 20,000 miles per hour. Is that not
enough to get an accurate assessment?

~~~
InclinedPlane
You think 5% error is "accurate"?

~~~
nobodyorother
For psychology studies, sure. Not for landing airplanes, unless they're paper
ones. Depends on your context, I guess.

