If you like fluid dynamics, or just love looking at awesome pictures of fluid instabilities then you will love today's APOD. Featuring the aptly named Serpent Storm, this gigantic storm on Saturn resembles the classic fluid dynamics problem of a flow past a cylinder. The head of the storm acts like a barrier which deflects the ambient flow of Saturn's atmosphere. This in turn causes a wake of turbulence and shear instabilities (Kelvin-Helmholtz). The Serpent storm originally appeared Dec. 5, 2010 and has been raging ever since. In fact the storm is so violent it is a huge source of radio emission, due to lightning activity. Nobody is quite sure why the storm appeared or what is powering it. However, it seems to be related to the changing of the Saturnian seasons as the northern hemisphere moves towards spring.In other news, STS-135 launched successfully after some worry about the weather. Atlantis is now en route to the International Space Station to deliver supplies for the last time. It is scheduled to return on July 20th, formally ending the space shuttle program.
Finally, stunning news rocked the astronomy world yesterday as a proposal was made by the US House Appropriations Committee to scrap the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). More complete information can be found in various locations. JWST is the successor to Hubble and will provide unrivaled views of the universe in the near infrared. The project is currently 75% complete with most of the hardware already built or in the process of being built. Unfortunately the project is also $1 billion dollars over budget and 3 years late due to organizational mismanagement. However, JWST has gone through a major organizational review and the management problems have been resolved.
In spite of its flawed history (Hubble had a flawed history as well and it produced amazing science), the hopes of many future US and international astronomers are pinned to the success of the JWST mission which promises to have a huge scientific pay off. Plus JWST is the only large scale telescope mission NASA has planned, and its older major space based observatories are nearing the end of their useful life span. The American Astronomical Society has released a statement regarding JWST asking Congress to continue funding it, the statement can be read here. Naturally if you are a US citizen voicing your support for astronomy, NASA, NSF, and general science and technology research money to your local member of Congress would be greatly appreciated.
