Saturn’s perplexing hexagon

 

  Saturn’s perplexing hexagon:

A massive cloud pattern in the shape of a hexagon sits at Saturn's north pole. A trove of images by the Cassini probe that orbited Saturn from 2004-2017 revealed some answers about it, but not all of them.⁣⁣

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The hurricane-like vortex has an eye about 50 times larger than a typical Earth hurricane, and a maximum wind speed about double that of the strongest cyclones here. What’s odd is that the sides of the hexagon are roughly symmetrical and ordered in a geometric pattern, something not often seen with Earth weather. The vortex exists only at the north pole, not in the south, and scientists don’t know why. This image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on May 4, 2014.⁣⁣

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Explore Saturn at science.nasa.gov/saturn⁣⁣

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Image Description: A grayscale image of Saturn tilted with its massive rings pointed toward the top right so the north pole is visible. Cloud bands encircle the planet and a prominent hexagonal feature sits at the pole. The background is black.⁣⁣

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Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute⁣

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                        09 October 2023