New Spin On Saturn's Rotation

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features.cfm?feature=2248

New Spin On Saturn's Rotation
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
July 29, 2009

New meteorological data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft indicates the
value for Saturn's rotation period could be more than 5 minutes
shorter
than previously believed - and that Saturn is more like its larger
neighbor Jupiter than previously considered. The rate at which Saturn
spins provides important data for planetary scientists interested in
the
ringed world. Obtaining an accurate fix on that number is critical to
enhancing scientist's understanding of the planet's evolution,
formation
and meteorology. The report on this finding, led by Cassini scientist
Peter Read of Oxford University, England, is published in the July 30
issue of the journal Nature.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the
European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Cassini
orbiter
was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. JPL manages the mission
for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in
Washington.

More information about the Cassini mission is available at
http://www.nasa.gov/cassini or http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov .