This APOD post shows the bright, large storm that appeared on Saturn last year as taken by the Cassini mission. The storm was spotted in December, when Saturn was visible in the morning sky just before dawn and was at a distance of about 1.4 billion kilometers from Earth, by people using amateur telescopes and the first recognized images were taken by the astronomical photographer A. Wesley. On Christmas Eve the Cassini probe captured it in full detail at a much closer distance of 1.8 million kilometers. The main spot of the storm is exceptionally large with a distance of 6,000 km which is the half of the size of Earth, and the entire storm is about 60,000 km. The storm started off as a mass of three zones and a bright core. The storm's features have changed as time progresses and has significantly widened and stretched in latitude over time. The storm has been labeled NED (Northern Electrostatic Disturbance) and has grown to take up nearly half the planet at this present time and its tale continues to extend further and further. Scientists are still charting observations on Saturn's NED and it will be exciting to see more images released from the Cassini probe as the storm develops.
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