A day on Saturn is pretty short, and it just got shorter. The time it takes the be-ringed behemoth to complete a spin on its axis has just been calculated by astrophysicists at 10 hours, 34 minutes and 13 seconds, more than five minutes shorter than previous estimates.
A planet comprising clouds of gas driven by layers of mighty jet streams, Saturn has no lasting visual landmarks as a rocky planet does, and this lack makes it hard to measure the planet's rotation.
As a result, astronomers have traditionally based their calculations on Saturn's magnetic field. But this signal can fluctuate and does not accurately measure how fast the planet's deep interior is rotating.
An international team led by scientists from Oxford University and the University of Louisville, Kentucky, used a different technique based on infrared images taken by the U.S. spacecraft Cassini orbiting Saturn.
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