Saturn's spokes may return this summer

[CalliArcale]

A new study from the University of Colorado-Boulder explains why the eerie spokes spotted by Voyager in the early 80s have been conspicuous by their absence in more recent imagery. The study suggests that the spokes are microscopic dust particles that leap a small distance off the larger icy ring particles due to electrostatic charge, forming a tenuous but enormous cloud. The scientists hypothesize that this may only be possible when the phase angle is right -- the sun rising and sinking high above and below the ringplane during the solstices may disrupt the phenomenon in some way. If this is true, the spokes should return fairly soon as the rings "close" as viewed from Earth.<br /><br />It's an interesting article:<br /><br />Weird Saturn ring spokes may return in July <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>