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from the it's-that-bloody-dress-again! dept.
Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard
It's like nothing we've seen on any other planet in the entire Universe, and now the mysterious structure on Saturn's north pole just got even weirder.
In just four years, Saturn's hexagon has changed its colour from blue to gold. So far, our best guess as to why this change occurred is that this is what it looks like when Saturn's north pole gears up for next year's summer solstice.
Discovered almost 30 years ago, Saturn's hexagon is a six-sided structure that spans roughly 32,000 km (20,000 miles) in diameter, and extends about 100 km (60 miles) down into the planet's dense atmosphere.
As observed by NASA's Voyager and Cassini spacecraft, each point of the hexagon appears to rotate at its centre at nearly the same rate that Saturn rotates on its axis. Along the rim of the hexagon, a jet stream of air is blasting eastward at speeds of 321 km/h (200 mph).
Based on its size and movements, scientists have concluded that it's a vast cloud pattern generated by a gigantic, perpetual hurricane spinning at the centre of the planet's north pole.
Scientists estimate that this storm has been raging for decades - maybe even centuries.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 27 2016, @10:57AM
1) Where does the energy come from to to drive this storm? Is solar input enough for this?
2) Have aerodynamics scientists tried to model this storm and see how it can sustain itself in this shape?
2a) Would a "structure below the clouds" be needed for this storm to remain stable?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by ledow on Thursday October 27 2016, @12:38PM
Billions of tons of gas moving at hundreds of thousands of miles per hour through space, kept in "freefall" by the Sun pulling on it constantly (orbit is basically freefall towards an object, but falling laterally so you never actually get any closer to it but instead end up circling it almost forever)?
And we can't even model a bloody rain cloud over London properly, to any significant accuracy. Fluid dynamics is HARD.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by deadstick on Thursday October 27 2016, @12:47PM
The first thing a hexagonal structure in an atmosphere brings to my mind is a Benard cell.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Arik on Thursday October 27 2016, @02:40PM
I thought the same thing, but I'm not sure how to make sense of that. Why would the north pole of Saturn be a hot spot? One would expect the opposite.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by fritsd on Thursday October 27 2016, @04:11PM
I thought Benard cells were caused by temperature differential and gravity (hotter liquid below goes up against gravity)
Like Arik says, though, why would it be hotter at the pole?
Maybe this Saturn hexagon is a function of large difference between radial air speeds, and a hexagon is just steady-state form # 4 (after triangle square and pentagon).
Does the Jet Stream on earth have an interesting geometric shape? (Not just a circle, I mean).