Towering hexagonal vortex spotted on Saturn

Scientists have discovered a unique hexagonal vortex on Saturn’s north pole — a towering atmospheric structure of whirling fluids that spans hundreds of kilometres in height.

The Cassini mission — which crashed into the Saturn last year to end its two decade long journey — spotted the feature emerging at the ringed planet’s northern pole as it nears summertime. This warm vortex sits hundreds of kilometres above the clouds, in a layer of atmosphere known as the stratosphere, and reveals an unexpected surprise.

“The edges of this newly-found vortex appear to be hexagonal, precisely matching a famous and bizarre hexagonal cloud pattern we see deeper down in Saturn’s atmosphere,” said Leigh Fletcher of the University of Leicester in the UK.

“Either a hexagon has spawned spontaneously and identically at two different altitudes, one lower in the clouds and one high in the stratosphere, or the hexagon is in fact a towering structure spanning a vertical range of several hundred kilometres,” he said.

Saturn’s cloud levels host the majority of the planet’s weather, including the pre-existing north polar hexagon. This feature was discovered by NASA’s Voyager spacecraft in the 1980s and has been studied for decades; it is a long-lasting wave potentially tied to Saturn’s rotation, a type of phenomenon also seen on Earth in structures such as the Polar Jet Stream.