Hubble captures mysterious ‘smudges’ on Saturn’s rings – and NASA admits it can’t explain them
NEW Hubble Space Telescope images have revealed strange marks on Saturn's rings - and scientists are baffled.
The light and dark smudges, also known as spokes, mark the start of the planet's so-called "spoke season."
What's behind the spokes?
NASA scientists intend to use the images to reach a better understanding of what causes the ghostly spots, and why they are seasonal.
"Thanks to Hubble's OPAL program, which is building an archive of data on the outer solar system planets, we will have longer dedicated time to study Saturn’s spokes this season than ever before," said NASA senior planetary scientist Amy Simon in a statement.
"The precise beginning and duration of the spoke season is still unpredictable, rather like predicting the first storm during hurricane season,” Simon added.
While the reason for the seasonal marks remains unknown, experts have a few theories.
"The suspected culprit for the spokes is the planet's variable magnetic field," NASA said in a .
Scientists think that smaller, icy particles can become charged, which temporarily floats them above the rest of the larger particles and boulders in the rings.
A similar phenomenon also happens on Earth, but we see it as the northern lights.
“It’s a fascinating magic trick of nature we only see on Saturn — for now at least,” Simon said.
Then just weeks later, an asteroid the size of a box truck made one of the closest passes of planet Earth ever recorded, NASA in a statement.
It’s possible that other planets with rings could experience similar events, but for now, they’ve only been observed on Saturn’s rings.