Saturn’s South Pole is tilted toward the sun and is very hot. The hot spot was discovered by the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii.

Saturn’s moon Hyperion has an oblong shape and a very unusual surface that makes it look like a sea sponge in images sent back from the spacecraft Cassini. The ice-rich moon has a very low density, which means it’s light in weight. It must be half-empty, riddled with hollow pockets.

Astronomers at the W.M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea in Hawaii have discovered a warm polar vortex at Saturn’s South Pole. A vortex is a persistent, large-scale weather pattern. It’s the first warm polar vortex discovered in the solar system.

Mercury can be seen at the very end of the month for about a half hour after sunset in the constellation Aquarius (the Water-Bearer). Mercury appears higher in the sky each evening and will be easier to see in March when it’s higher and brighter in the predawn sky. Mercury looks like a small white star.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has released data sent back from their space probe Huygen that landed on Saturn’s moon Titan. The first pictures of the surface of Titan reveal a frozen hilly landscape with channels or riverbeds carved by some liquid. A picture taken from 10 miles above the surface shows a large dark mass that appears to be a lake. Another picture shows large white chunks of boulders or blocks of water ice scattered in the foreground with a grey surface in the background. More data reveals a pale orange landscape with a spongy surface like wet sand or clay. Huygen space probe’s microphone has picked up a low, whooshing sound.