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On Earth, storms are a common occurrence, often taking the form of spirals or circular patterns. Can they also take a hexagonal shape? Well, that is something exclusive to Saturn! The distinctive hexagon-shaped cloud patterns observed on Saturn’s North Pole remain a unique and intriguing phenomenon within our solar system.
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day for June 18 is hexagon clouds over Saturn! The formation of a hexagon on Saturn’s clouds is a fascinating mystery. This peculiar phenomenon was initially observed during the Voyager missions in the 1980s, and to this day, it remains unique within our Solar System – a lasting mystery.
NASA Astronomy Photo of the Day explanation
In late 2012, the Cassini spacecraft captured the sunlit perspective of the northern region of Saturn. Using its wide-angle camera, Cassini recorded a remarkable false-colour image of the ringed planet’s north pole. By combining near-infrared image data, the combined image portrays low clouds in shades of red and high clouds in shades of green, resulting in a vibrant and striking depiction of Saturn’s cloud-filled landscape.
“The hexagon is just a current of air, and weather features out there that share similarities to this are notoriously turbulent and unstable. A hurricane on Earth typically lasts a week, but this has been here for decades — and who knows — maybe centuries,” Andrew Ingersoll, Cassini Imaging Team said.
Observations of Saturn’s North Pole reveal a remarkable sight, as the cloud formation retains its distinct hexagonal shape even while rotating. Unlike the occasional cloud formations resembling a hexagon on Earth, Saturn’s cloud pattern exhibits six clearly defined sides, each of nearly equal length. How large is it? NASA spills the fact that the hexagon on Saturn is so vast that it could accommodate four Earths within its boundaries!
About NASA’s Cassini spacecraft
Cassini, a highly advanced robotic spacecraft, was a collaborative project involving NASA, ESA, and the Italian space agency (ASI). Its primary mission was to conduct an in-depth exploration of Saturn, including its system of rings and moons, providing insights into their composition and behaviour. The spacecraft was launched on October 15, 1997, and embarked on a remarkable journey that spanned over two decades. However, after its extensive mission, The grand finale, for Cassini, was on September 15, 2017.
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