The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
Go to topicThis enhanced-colour image of the northern hemisphere of Saturn was taken by the US Voyager 1 on 5 November 1980 at a range of 9 million kilometres. Its shows a variety of features in Saturn's clouds. Small-scale convective cloud features are visible in the brown belt; an isolated convective cloud with a dark ring is seen in the light-brown zone; and a longitudinal wave is visible in the light blue region.
The smallest features visible in this photograph are 175 kilometres across. Time-lapse images of cloud features like these not only provide information on how these storms evolve with time, but provide a way to measure atmospheric wind speeds.
On Saturn and the other gas giants, winds blow mainly along lines of constant latitude. Near Saturn's equator, winds blow eastward (the same direction as Saturn rotates) at speeds of about 1100 metres per second.