We're overdue for a recurrence of one of the ringed planet's most arresting spectacles. Known as ‘Great White Spots’ by analogy to Jupiter's iconic Great Red Spot, Saturn's colossal storms appear suddenly at intervals of about three decades and can expand to encircle the entire planet.
If it were shorn of its magnificent rings, Saturn would appear as a paler version of Jupiter, While Saturn's dusky belts and bright zones resemble Jupiter's richly detailed cloudscape, they are comparatively muted in contrast and less sharply defined. The blandness of features on the planet is largely attributed to its lower temperatures, arising from its greater distance from the Sun.
