January 22, 2019

Close-up of Saturn's rings (Image NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute)

An article published in “The Astrophysical Journal” reports a precise measurement of the duration of the day on the planet Saturn. The lack of a solid surface with reference points and a magnetic field with unusual characteristics prevented precise measurements, but now a team of researchers led by Christopher Mankovich of the University of California, Santa Cruz, (UCSC) accomplished that feat by exploiting data collected by the Cassini space probe on the effects that the vibrations inside Saturn cause on the oscillation of its gravitational field and consequently also on the rings. The result is that the day on the planet was measured in 10 hours, 33 minutes and 38 seconds.