Atom & Cosmos

A cosmic collision heard ‘round the world, plus Saturn storms, black hole drains and more in this week’s news

Saturn storm’s aftermath
Planetary scientists have for the first time documented in detail the effects of a Saturnian storm on the planet’s atmosphere. Combining data from satellites and ground-based telescopes, an international team of researchers found that within a month of the onset of a storm last December, the disturbance had penetrated hundreds of kilometers into Saturn’s stratosphere, altering temperature, winds and composition over an entire hemisphere.