Saturn - False Color of Southern Hemisphere

This false-color image of Saturn's southern hemisphere taken by NASA's Voyager 1 on Nov. 6, 1980, shows the unique red oval cloud feature located at 55 degrees south latitude. The photograph was taken by the spacecraft at a distance of 8,500,000 kilometers (5,300,000 miles) from Saturn. The difference in color between the red oval and surrounding bluish clouds indicates that material within the oval contains a substance that absorbs more blue and violet light than the bluish clouds. Voyager imaging team scientists first observed the oval in August 1980, and the feature has seemed to retain its appearance since its discovery. The Voyager Project is managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.