Bruce Murray Space Image Library

Saturn spot time lapse movie

Saturn spot time lapse movie
Saturn spot time lapse movie A 20-frame sequence of images obtained by Cassini in September and October 2004. The time interval between individual frames is not uniform. NASA / JPL-Caltech / SSI / Image processing by Björn Jónsson

A 20-frame sequence of images obtained by Cassini in September and October 2004. The frames are in simple cylindrical projection and are centered on a big spot near latitude 45°S. The source images were taken through the CB3 filter.

A lot is going on here. It's especially interesting to see the big spot merge with two smaller spots at the same time. It appears to 'swallow' them although some very bright material gets ejected from the spot in the process. Some of the spots exhibit obvious counterclockwise motion and in some cases they oscillate and change shape. The time interval between individual frames is not uniform. Additional information here.