Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 25 February 2005:
Vol. 307. no. 5713, pp. 1223 - 1224
DOI: 10.1126/science.1104956
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Viewpoint

How Long Is the Day on Saturn?

Agustín Sánchez-Lavega

Determining a planet's rotation period can be difficult if the planet lacks a solid surface. However, for planets with an internal magnetic field, emissions at radio wavelengths are modulated by the planet's rotation rate. The latest results from the Cassini spacecraft seem to indicate that Saturn's rotation rate has slowed down by 6 minutes since the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft flew by the planet in 1980 and 1981, but it is unclear whether a slowdown has in fact occurred. Future data collected by Cassini may be able to resolve the question.

Escuela Superior de Ingeniería, Universidad del País Vasco, 48013 Bilbao, Spain.

E-mail: wupsalaa{at}bi.ehu.es

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Saturn's Variable Magnetosphere.
T. I. Gombosi and K. C. Hansen (2005)
Science 307, 1224-1226
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)