The Hubble Space Telescope captured a newly revealed image of the mysterious, ghostly shadows on Saturn's rings — the latest sighting of the so-called "spokes" that continue to baffle scientists.
The composite photo, released Thursday by NASA, was taken by Hubble on Oct. 22 as Saturn was about 1.37 billion kilometres away, according to . The space observatory has been orbiting Earth just a few hundred miles above the surface for more than three decades.
Astronomers have long known about the perplexing spokes on Saturn's rings, which look like apparitions skating along the rings and can be spotted in various locations depending on where the planet is in its orbital cycle.
Over time, observations have revealed that the number and appearance of the spokes can vary depending on Saturn's seasonal cycle. Similar to Earth, the planet has an axis with a tilt that causes seasonal changes, though each season on Saturn lasts about seven years, according to NASA.
Hubble is set to observe the unexplained phenomenon at peak activity as researchers aim to unravel its secrets.
"We are heading towards Saturn equinox, when we'd expect maximum spoke activity, with higher frequency and darker spokes appearing over the next few years," said Amy Simon, the lead scientist of Hubble's Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy, or OPAL, , in a statement. Simon is based at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
Saturn's autumnal equinox is expected to occur on May 6, 2025.
The NASA Voyager 2 spacecraft captured the first evidence of the spokes in the 1980s. And the Cassini mission, a dedicated Saturn probe, made observations of the peak in the late 2000s.
More recent observations from Hubble occurred earlier this year as part of a renewed push to identify what causes the spokes' appearance.
The spokes may appear small in images, but they can actually be larger than Earth in width and diameter, according to NASA.
Scientists will continue studying Saturn's mysterious spokes through the 2025 equinox in an attempt to finally unlock an explanation for the apparitions.
"The suspected culprit for the spokes is the planet's variable magnetic field," NASA said in a . "Planetary magnetic fields interact with the solar wind, creating an electrically charged environment.
"On Earth, when those charged particles hit the atmosphere this is visible in the northern hemisphere as the aurora borealis, or northern lights."
Essentially, astronomers suspect that tiny particles can become charged by this activity, causing them to briefly rise higher than surrounding material and create an apparent bulge.
Researchers hope that Hubble data will prove or disprove the theory once and for all, building on observations collected by Voyager 2 and the Cassini mission.
Israel's widely expected ground invasion of Lebanon appeared to be getting underway early on Tuesday as its military said troops had begun 'limited' raids against Hezbollah targets in the border area.
Pete Rose, Major League Baseball's all-time hits leader who was banned from baseball for gambling on the game, has died at 83.
A B.C. condo owner who was blamed for a cockroach infestation in her building and charged thousands of dollars for the cost of eradicating the bugs must be refunded, the civil resolution tribunal ruled.
Ottawa must do more to help Canadian citizens leave Lebanon, says the son of a Canadian couple killed last week when an Israeli bomb hit their car in the country's south.
Health Canada issued a recall last week for various sexual enhancement products for containing prescribed drugs like tadalafil and sildenafil.
TD Bank Group has agreed to pay more than US$28 million after an investigation into manipulation of the U.S. Treasuries market by one of its traders.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is asking members of the United Nations to counter growing political polarization abroad while taking shots at Conservative rhetoric at home.
Sean "Diddy" Combs is appealing a federal judge's decision to keep him in jail while he awaits trial on sex trafficking charges.
It had been 48 hours since the winds and rains from Hurricane Helene ripped through western North Carolina and Sam Perkins still had not heard from his parents.
A B.C. condo owner who was blamed for a cockroach infestation in her building and charged thousands of dollars for the cost of eradicating the bugs must be refunded, the civil resolution tribunal ruled.
Ottawa must do more to help Canadian citizens leave Lebanon, says the son of a Canadian couple killed last week when an Israeli bomb hit their car in the country's south.
Seas of orange shirts have come to represent a growing awareness of Canada's history of oppressing Indigenous Peoples – but that awareness must translate into more "substantive changes" from the government, according to a B.C. chief.
A child was sent to hospital after being attacked by a coyote in northwest Calgary.
Residential school survivors say the federal government is keeping the truth about those institutions in the dark by cutting back on funding for records and ground searches looking for unmarked graves of children who died at the schools.
He may not have logged the fastest time or even gone the full distance, but residents of a Newfoundland town agree the goat who unexpectedly joined the local weekend half marathon was the event's undisputed champion.
Israel's widely expected ground invasion of Lebanon appeared to be getting underway early on Tuesday as its military said troops had begun 'limited' raids against Hezbollah targets in the border area.
More than 90,000 residents east of Atlanta were told to keep sheltering in place Monday a day after a chemical plant fire sent a massive plume of dark smoke high into the sky that could been seen for miles.
For the first time in Rwanda’s history, its health ministry is dealing with an outbreak of Marburg virus disease, a rare but deadly hemorrhagic disease similar to Ebola – but unlike Ebola, there is no treatment or vaccines for Marburg, and it has a fatality rate of 88 per cent.
A man who authorities say spent 12 hours camped outside Donald Trump's golf course before Secret Service spotted him with a rifle pleaded not guilty on Monday to federal charges including attempted assassination.
Sean "Diddy" Combs is appealing a federal judge's decision to keep him in jail while he awaits trial on sex trafficking charges.
Nearly 6,000 people in Haiti are starving, with nearly half the country's population of more than 11 million people experiencing crisis levels of hunger or worse as gang violence smothers life in the capital of Port-au-Prince and beyond, according to a new report released Monday.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is asking members of the United Nations to counter growing political polarization abroad while taking shots at Conservative rhetoric at home.
The Liberal government is announcing more details on its existing strategy and funding to fight hate crimes.
Migrant groups are pushing the federal government to reverse its cap on international study permits and tightening post-graduate work permit qualifications, claiming it will leave many students 'in limbo.'
Health Canada issued a recall last week for various sexual enhancement products for containing prescribed drugs like tadalafil and sildenafil.
The family of Kendyl Smith-Trimm, a young girl who bravely battled cancer, has raised a staggering $66,500 in her memory for the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario.
The fertility rate in Canada reached an all-time low in 2023, and the lowest rate was recorded in British Columbia, according to new data from Statistics Canada.
The two astronauts stuck at the International Space Station since June welcomed their new ride home with Sunday's arrival of a SpaceX capsule.
The space rock — 2024 PT5 — was first spotted in August by astronomers at Complutense University of Madrid using a powerful telescope located in Sutherland, South Africa.
Canadian innovators and technical leaders gathered in Ottawa Thursday to demonstrate the latest cutting-edge technology.
The 50th season of “Saturday Night Live†is off to a strong ratings start and is a record-breaker for the streaming service Peacock.
A New Mexico judge on Monday denied 'Rust' armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed's request for new trial and upheld her involuntary manslaughter conviction for the 2021 death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Oasis shocked fans by announcing a reunion tour last month, ending a 15-year hiatus and, presumably, the long-held feud between brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher. But those were only U.K. dates. On Monday, the band shared that they're planning on heading to North America in 2025, too.
TD Bank Group has agreed to pay more than US$28 million after an investigation into manipulation of the U.S. Treasuries market by one of its traders.
Three tobacco giants are yet again seeking to extend an order suspending legal proceedings against them, as they negotiate a settlement with creditors in a long-running case involving an order to pay out billions to some 100,000 smokers and their loved ones.
Dockworkers kicked off a three-day strike at the Port of Montreal on Monday, shutting down two terminals that handle more than 40 per cent of the container traffic at Canada's second-largest port.
Have you been caught in a bind, far from home, that could have been avoided with the timely purchase of an insurance package? We want to hear from you.
Kim Ruether lifted her son's eyelid and saw his still, dilated pupil staring at the ceiling as he lay on a stretcher in a northwestern Alberta hospital hallway a decade ago. She says she didn't need a doctor to tell her the boy was dead.
Many people consider eating less meat, be it for health, environmental or animal-welfare reasons. (Livestock accounts for nearly half of agricultural emissions fueling climate change.) But they sometimes hesitate because they are concerned about how they would replace all that lost protein.
Ryan Hunter's athleticism has been on full display since his arrival in the CFL, but the Canadian's versatility is now shining through.
Toronto Raptors team president Masai Ujiri tried to lay to rest rumours that he has friction with Edward Rogers, the executive chair of Rogers Communications, Inc.
Dikembe Mutombo, a Basketball Hall of Famer who was one of the best defensive players in NBA history and a longtime global ambassador for the game, died Monday after a battle with brain cancer, the league announced. He was 58.
General Motors’ Cruise autonomous vehicle division will pay a US$1.5 million penalty after the unit failed to fully report a crash involving a pedestrian, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday.
A tale about a taxicab hauling gold and sinking through the ice on Larder Lake, Ont., in December 1937 has captivated a man from that town for decades.
A U.S. driver somehow squeezed her vehicle through a parkade hallway at a Metro Vancouver casino Thursday, before getting stuck at an elevator bank.
On Saturday night at her parents’ home in Delaware, Ont. the Olympic bronze medallist in pole vault welcomed everyone who played a role in getting her to the podium in Paris.
A tale about a taxicab hauling gold and sinking through the ice on Larder Lake, Ont., in December 1937 has captivated a man from that town for decades.
When a group of B.C. filmmakers set out on a small fishing boat near Powell River last week, they hoped to capture some video for a documentary on humpback whales. What happened next blew their minds.
A pizza chain in Edmonton claims to have the world's largest deliverable pizza.
Sarah McLachlan is returning to her hometown of Halifax in November.
Wayne MacKay is still playing basketball twice at Mount Allison University at 87 years old.
A man from a small rural Alberta town is making music that makes people laugh.
An Indigenous artist has a buyer-beware warning ahead of Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Police are looking to the public for help after thieves broke into a Lethbridge ice creamery, stealing from the store.
A fire in South Vancouver Monday completely destroyed one home and caused damage to two others, according to officials, who said no one was injured in the blaze.
The New Democrats are campaigning for another term in British Columbia's provincial election but without many of the familiar faces that have graced lawn signs of elections past.
The leader of the BC Conservative Party pledged to build bridges and promote economic reconciliation with First Nations on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a move Indigenous leaders slammed as “political opportunism.â€
Toronto police have identified a man who was found fatally shot early Monday morning in a plaza in the city's Weston area.
Toronto police have charged a suspect with second-degree murder following a deadly stabbing at a Scarborough home on Sunday afternoon.
Toronto police say they have identified two suspects who allegedly assaulted and spat at police during a pro-Palestinian protest downtown earlier this month, and they are trying to identify one more.
Blood Tribe Chief Roy Fox says the death of Jon Wells on Sept. 17 after a scuffle with police at a Calgary hotel has brought back memories of a public inquiry in the 1980s that 'underscored the cultural gap' between his community and police.
The Calgary police homicide unit is investigating after two people were found dead in a home in the community of Penbrooke Meadows.
A 14-year-old has been missing from Marlborough for two weeks, and police are hoping you can help find them.
Health Canada has granted a three-year exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to one of Lowertown's safe consumption sites that will allow the facility to continue operating.
The smell of sage and sweetgrass floated in the air Monday over a mostly sombre ceremony to reflect on the legacy of residential schools and remember those who survived — and the thousands who didn't.
Ontario Provincial Police laid charges against an Ottawa driver after a child was found to not be wearing a seatbelt inside a vehicle early Sunday morning.
A 19-year-old man convicted of killing a Montreal teenager outside his school in October 2021 was sentenced to six years on Monday.
Several windows were damaged and spray painted with 'Free Gaza' during a protest at Concordia University Sunday night, Montreal police say.
A group of 23 bilingual municipalities are in Quebec Superior Court today to ask a judge to suspend the application of several portions of the province's 2022 language reform.
Kim Ruether lifted her son's eyelid and saw his still, dilated pupil staring at the ceiling as he lay on a stretcher in a northwestern Alberta hospital hallway a decade ago. She says she didn't need a doctor to tell her the boy was dead.
Mounties say one person is dead in the aftermath of a collision involving two vehicles south of Calmar on Sunday.
Mike Hoffman's shot at a spot on the Edmonton Oilers' roster is over.
More than a hundred people marched on Cape Breton’s Membertou First Nation on Monday – the fourth National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The St. Andrews Historical Society in St. Andrews, N.B., announced that it would exhibit “one of the most significant 18th-century treaties between Great Britain and two First Nations of Canada†at Drewhaven Town & Country on Thursday.
He may not have logged the fastest time or even gone the full distance, but residents of a Newfoundland town agree the goat who unexpectedly joined the local weekend half marathon was the event's undisputed champion.
Thousands of Manitoba Hydro customers are without power Monday after strong winds barrelled through parts of the province overnight.
Residents in Tadoule Lake, Man., and Churchill can expect to see heavy rain trickle in Sunday afternoon, lingering until Monday evening.
Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen touched down in Winnipeg this week, ahead of his lunar mission set to launch in a year’s time.
Premier Scott Moe has confirmed that the writ will be dropped Tuesday morning – officially kicking off campaigning prior to the provincial election on Oct. 28.
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) is warning of high winds affecting some regions of southeast Saskatchewan.
A man is in custody after allegedly robbing a business in McLean, Sask. with an edged weapon on Saturday.
Communities across the country marked the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation with events honouring survivors of residential schools and remembering those who never made it home.
An Etobicoke resident was taken to hospital after he told a Guelph Police officer he had been stabbed during Homecoming celebrations near the University of Guelph.
A woman has been charged as part of a murder investigation in Brantford.
Premier Scott Moe has confirmed that the writ will be dropped Tuesday morning – officially kicking off campaigning prior to the provincial election on Oct. 28.
Saskatoon gardeners should cover their plants overnight, as Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) issued a frost advisory on Monday afternoon.
With the writs expected to drop this week for the Saskatchewan general election, political experts say Scott Moe's Saskatchewan Party is on track for a fifth majority government but will lose seats to Carla Beck's NDP.
A 73-year-old man on a mobility scooter was killed Sunday night in Sudbury after being hit by a vehicle on Lasalle Boulevard and Barry Downe Road.
If you're struggling to find a name for your baby, you may find some inspiration in a new list of popular names.
A pedestrian has died after reportedly getting struck by an OPP cruiser in Bala early Sunday morning.
A pair of homes are destroyed on Penhale Avenue in St. Thomas, Ont. after an electrical fire set a garage ablaze Sunday night.
Students from three elementary schools in the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) were taking part in a day of learning on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The City of London is informing drivers about temporary road restrictions on Wellington Street as part of the Downtown Loop Phase 3 finishing work and surface paving.
The fourth annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation saw plenty of community members gathering across Barrie on Monday, reflecting on the impacts of residential schools and honouring survivors.
A pedestrian has died after reportedly getting struck by an OPP cruiser in Bala early Sunday morning.
An early Sunday morning fire in Colgan that caused significant damage is under investigation.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized $11,000 US from an inbound American citizen at the Ambassador Bridge.
A section of Drouillard Road will close this week for an infrastructure renewal project.
The City of Windsor has unveiled plans for the “Park in Perfect Harmony†initiative in the downtown core.
The New Democrats are campaigning for another term in British Columbia's provincial election but without many of the familiar faces that have graced lawn signs of elections past.
The residential “school†survivor whose story sparked Orange Shirt Day — and the “Every Child Matters†movement — says she is worried the cause is being forgotten.
British Columbia drivers are reminded that winter tires and chains are mandatory on most highways in the province starting Tuesday.
Fire crews in Vernon, B.C., responded to a large house fire early Saturday morning.
A pair of runaway pigs are in the custody of an animal sanctuary in the Okanagan after evading police and volunteers for hours earlier this week.
The Red Bridge, a historic landmark in Kamloops, B.C., was completely destroyed by fire early Thursday morning.
The sentencing for three men convicted of helping lead and coordinate the COVID-19 protest blockade at Coutts, Alta., in 2022 has been delayed.
A 10-year-old boy from Lethbridge is being praised as a hero after a routine summer outing at the pool nearly turned tragic for his friend.
A man and woman have been charged after a Lethbridge ice creamery was broken into earlier this week. Staff arrived at Cookie Crimes, in the 300 block of Sixth Street South, just before 5:30 a.m. on Monday to discover the front window broken.
Overnight on Thursday as the community of Elliot Lake was resting to prepare for the upcoming Kraft Hockeyville celebrations, when vandals struck a building that has been top of mind for the northern Ontario city for more than a year.
Ontario Provincial Police remind the public that ‘a case is never closed until it is solved,’ while highlighting the force's continued investigation of the 1996 disappearance of Melanie Ethier.
Sault residents may notice some commotion on the Algoma University campus over the next two weeks as a team conducts an archaeological search.
He may not have logged the fastest time or even gone the full distance, but residents of a Newfoundland town agree the goat who unexpectedly joined the local weekend half marathon was the event's undisputed champion.
A mother in a community where the cost of living is one of the highest in the country says grocery prices are 'inhumane' and retailers are putting profits ahead of people’s basic human right to food.
A soccer game in England on Tuesday night drove a spike in online traffic across the Atlantic to a website launched by the Newfoundland and Labrador government.
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