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  • Meet Saturn's Great White Spot That Really Isn't A Spot Anymore

    Matt Burns

    Matt is a Senior Editor at TechCrunch. Matt Burns is a family man first and attempts to be a writer second. Born and raised in the heart of the automotive world, only cars eclipse his love of gadgets. He previously wrote for Engadget and EngadgetHD before moving into the party house that is TechCrunch. He learned the retail side of... → Learn More

    Thursday, July 7th, 2011


    Think Arizona’s dust storm was huge? Check out the Great White Spot on Saturn. What first started as a small but bright dot last December, has grown to a massive storm that is currently encompassing a vast part of the planet’s upper half. The Cassini spacecraft first picked it up on December 5, 2010 and then astronomers then noticed the bright dot. Cassini then observed lightning strikes 10,000 times stronger than what happens here on Earth. Saturn is known for its violent, long-lasting storms, but this is the first major event recorded in the planet’s northern hemisphere. [NASA]