NASA captures stunning image of giant hurricane on Saturn

KNKX Public Radio | By Martha Kang

Published April 29, 2013 at 12:54 PM PDT

1 of 3

The spinning vortex of Saturn's north polar storm resembles a deep red rose of giant proportions surrounded by green foliage in this false-color image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI

2 of 3

This spectacular, vertigo inducing, false-color image from NASA's Cassini mission highlights the storms at Saturn's north pole.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI

3 of 3

The north pole of Saturn, in the fresh light of spring, is revealed in this color image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI

What looks like a “deep red rose of giant proportions” is actually a huge hurricane on Saturn’s north pole, says NASA.

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which has been orbiting Saturn for nine years, captured this image of the storm at the center of the planet’s north pole. The red tint indicates low clouds while the green hue indicates high clouds, thanks to a special filter.

The hurricane’s eye stretches 1,250 miles wide and moves as fast as 330 miles per hour—more than four times the force of hurricane winds on Earth.

Unlike a hurricane on Earth, the storm is locked to the north pole, says NASA.

The image, one of first snapshots of the sunlit views of the north pole, was captured using a narrow-angle camera from some 261,000 miles away in November 2012 and released on Monday.