Bizarre hexagon spins in Saturn's atmosphere

A hexagon-shaped feature has been photographed as it spins in Saturn's atmosphere, with the planet's north pole at its center. NASA's Voyager craft saw it more than 20 years ago, but it's still around, as seen by Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer.

In the press release from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Kevin Baines, a scientist for the instrument, said the feature was "very strange ... lying in a precise geometric fashion with six nearly equally straight sides. We've never seen anything like this on any other planet. Indeed, Saturn's thick atmosphere, where circularly-shaped waves and convective cells dominate, is perhaps the last place you'd expect to see such a six-sided geometric figure, yet there it is."

Scientists liken it to Earth's polar vortex, where winds spin in a circular pattern. Saturn's spinning hexagon extends some 60 miles below the cloud tops.

"It's amazing to see such striking differences on opposite ends of Saturn's poles," Bob Brown, team leader of the Cassini visual and infrared mapping spectrometer, said in the press release. "At the south pole we have what appears to be a hurricane with a giant eye, and at the north pole of Saturn we have this geometric feature, which is completely different."

The release also says: "Based on the new images and more information on the depth of the feature, scientists think it is not linked to Saturn's radio emissions or to auroral activity, as once contemplated, even though Saturn's northern aurora lies nearly overhead."

One thing we can say: It sure is strange-looking. Check out the movie and read more on JPL's Cassini site.