The huge, mysterious hexagon at Saturn's north pole may finally have an explanation.
The bizarre, hexagon-shaped cloud was first discovered in 1988 by scientists reviewing data from NASA's Voyager flybys of Saturn in 1980 and 1981, but its existence was not confirmed until NASA's Cassini spacecraft examined the planet up close a few years later.
Nothing like a hexagon has ever been seen anywhere before. A structure is located in the center of which a storm is raging, reaching a width of about 32,000 km, and thermography shows that the height of the formation is about 100 km.
Scientists put forward a variety of explanations for the origin of the hexagon. For example, a whirlpool inside a bucket may have an opening of a certain geometric shape. However, of course, there is no giant “bucket” that could create this huge hexagon on Saturn.
Voyager and Cassini identified a large number of features of this strange hexagon that could help in understanding its formation. For example, the points of a figure rotate around its center at about the same speed as around its axis. In addition, on Saturn there is an air current similar to Earth's, which moves east at a speed of approximately 360 km / h and follows the hexagon, as it were.
The researchers have now developed a model that they believe will allow them to study the features of the hexagon better than previous attempts.
According to Raul Morales-Uberius, a planetary scientist at the Institute of Mining and Technology in New Mexico and lead researcher, this model is quite simple, but it can explain many of the observed properties of the hexagon.
Scientists conducted computer modelling airflow that moves eastward in a curved path near north pole Saturn. The slightest whirlwinds, which can be expected from a collision with other air currents, turned the meander into a hexagon. In addition, this hexagon rotated around its center at a speed close to the real one.
Members of the research team claim that this theory the best way explains the presence of air currents in the hexagon at the level of the clouds. The wind below the cloud seems to help maintain the hexagonal shape, and controls how fast the hexagon moves.
Various models that represent winds higher in the atmosphere or do not account for winds below cloud level do not properly reproduce Saturn's hexagon. So, their result may be a six-pointed star, a certain six-pointed figure, or six pairs of storms arranged in a hexagonal shape.
Morales-Huberius would like to compare the new data with models from other research groups to watch for possible matches. In June, he and his colleagues filed their findings in detail in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
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The storm on the planet does not dissipate and has the correct geometric shape.
"SNOWFLAKE"
most mysterious planet The solar system is considered to be Saturn. His rings and 64 satellites possess in truth strange properties. So, the "prankster" Enceladus melts and showers Elena with splashes, while extracting sounds, like on guitar strings. Titan is drowning in "seas of tears" - systems underground oceans and salt lakes. But the most wonderful surprise was a six-sided storm at the north pole of the planet. Remember school riddle Why is the snowflake hexagonal? Now scientists are asking the same question, studying the "snowflake" on the "cap" of Saturn.
The hexagon is similar to Earth's polar vortices, but on Saturn, for some reason, they have correct form. This is a very strange formation, it has an exact geometric structure and six practically equal sides, - expressed surprise Kevin Baines, representative of the Laboratory jet propulsion in Pasadena, California.
TWO EARTH
The hexagon owes its appearance to jet vortices that go 60 kilometers deep into the atmosphere and consist of gas clouds. They hold the storm's perimeter and form a region that orbits the planet's north pole at a latitude of approximately 77 degrees. The diameter of the hexagon of vortex currents is about 30 thousand kilometers, each side is 14,500 kilometers. In it, to put it mildly, two such planets as the Earth could fit.
The movement of the waves is approximately 322 kilometers per hour. In the center is a funnel. There is no such phenomenon anywhere else in the solar system. It is noteworthy that there are no regular hexagons at the south pole of Saturn: polar vortices there are ordinary spiral circles, in photographs they resemble gigantic terrestrial tornadoes.
STORM 666
The amazing phenomenon has been known since the Voyager-1 mission, when the device flew past Saturn in 1980, but the study was difficult because it was in the shadow due to the polar night, because the year on Saturn is about 29.5 earth years. The change of seasons happened in 2012 and Cassini took a series of shots in high resolution, which, together with new photographs, made it possible to trace the dynamics of ongoing processes. It turned out that the hexagonal cumulative jet acts as a barrier, inside which small vortices are formed.
The hexagon is the airflow. On Earth, a hurricane can last a week, but on Saturn it lasts for decades, maybe even centuries, said Andrew Ingersoll, who processes the Cassini data at the California Institute of Technology. - On Earth, atmospheric vortices slow down due to the heterogeneity of the planet's surface topography, while on Saturn - with its circularly structured atmosphere - the surface is smooth, and the storm does not dissipate.
In 2017, the summer solstice will come to Saturn. As this date approaches, more possibilities explore unusual phenomenon. Scientists still do not know what is under gas envelope giant.
CONSTANT
Scientists from Oxford University were able to simulate the appearance of a hexagon in laboratory conditions. To find out how such a formation occurs, the researchers placed a 30-liter bottle of water on a turntable. He modeled Saturn's atmosphere and its usual rotation. Inside, scientists placed small rings that rotate faster than the container. This generated miniature eddies and jets, which the experimenters visualized with green paint. The faster the ring rotated, the larger the eddies became, causing the nearby stream to deviate from a circular shape. Thus, the authors of the experiment managed to obtain various shapes - ovals, triangles, squares and, of course, the desired hexagon.
Scientists compared the experimental data with what is happening on Saturn and put forward the assumption that in its high northern latitudes individual jet streams are accelerated just to the speed at which something like a stable wave is formed - a planetary hexagon. And although the “investigation” does not reveal the origin of such currents, it does show why the whole system is so beautiful and durable.
Cassini was launched in 1997 and reached Saturn on July 1, 2004. Its mission is calculated until 2017, it is joint project NASA, European space agency and the Italian Space Agency. On the basis of the transmitted information, about 3,000 reports were compiled and many discoveries were made, recalls the Independent Cosmonautics Portal. Among his successes are the landing of the Huygens probe on Titan, the study of the moon Enceladus, tracking the formation of a new satellite and the study of lakes and underground oceans on Titan, the discovery of seven previously unknown satellites of Saturn.
The shape of Saturn's Hexagon is stable. Perhaps this is also due to the fact that on Earth atmospheric vortices collide with inhomogeneities on the surface of the planet, and on Saturn such a collision does not threaten cyclones.
Saturn is a very unusual planet in the solar system. Everyone knows that this is a gas giant with huge cosmic rings, a real hallmark planets. But not everyone knows that Saturn, like Jupiter, has its own huge mark in the atmosphere. And if formidable Jupiter it is famous and widely known as the Great Red Spot in the form of an irregular circle, then for Saturn it is known as the Hexagon of Saturn and has the shape of a .. hexagon! The nature of the spots, however, is the same - these are huge storm cyclones that have been raging on the planets for many centuries. However, for Saturn, this atmospheric vortex also changes color over time. Over four years of observation, the hexagon turned from blue to gold.
Saturn Hexagon - Geometrically regular hexagon with a diameter of 25 thousand kilometers. It is located at the north pole of the planet. The walls of the vortex are straight and go deep into the atmosphere for 100 kilometers. In the infrared range in the vortex are found light areas. These are gigantic holes in the cloud system that extend up to 75 kilometers into the atmosphere. Saturn's hexagon tends to rotate. Full turn around its axis it takes 10 hours 39 minutes. Surprisingly, this giant vortex does not move and remains in the same place. On the south pole Saturn does not have such formations. But there is huge funnel in the atmosphere. By the way, the same funnel exists in the center of the incredible hexagon. This phenomenon was first discovered spacecraft Voyager in the early 1980s. And in 2006, the Cassini spacecraft flew up to Saturn, filming the rotation of the hexagon.
Scientists from the University of Oxford simulated the emergence of the Saturn Hexagon in the laboratory. They placed a 30 liter water bottle on a rotating table. The water modeled Saturn's atmosphere and its rotation. Inside the vessel, scientists put small rings that rotated faster than the balloon. They created miniature whirlpools and jets that were made visible by adding green paint to the water. The faster the rings rotated, the larger the eddies became, causing the nearby stream to deviate from a circular shape. Scientists managed to get circles, ovals, triangles, squares and a hexagon in this way. Based on their experience, the researchers suggested that at the north pole of Saturn, individual jet streams are dispersed to a certain speed relative to the rest of the planetary atmosphere. This contributes to the formation of the planetary hexagon. With a large difference in the speed of rotation of the planet and the jet stream, a different amount sides of the polygon. The speed of movement of atmospheric masses here is 150 m/s.
The shape of Saturn's Hexagon is stable. Perhaps this is also due to the fact that on Earth atmospheric vortices collide with inhomogeneities on the surface of the planet, and on Saturn such a collision does not threaten cyclones. There is simply no hard surface. What is the true depth of the atmosphere of this amazing planet, it is not yet known exactly, and what is under it is still only a subject for theoretical modeling.
Why did Saturn's Hexagon change its color? A year on the planet is equal to 29 years on Earth. The change of seasons on Saturn occurs every seven years. With an increase solar activity over the past years, the planet has received more sunlight than in the previous season. Perhaps this is the change in the color of the Hexagon to a golden hue. Interestingly, in 2017, the Saturnian solstice is observed. Also on the planet the real one is coming rain. Only it does not consist of water droplets, but of liquid helium.
The real color of the hurricane. Photo taken June 26, 2013. (Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute/Val Klavans)
Saturn is one of the most unusual planets solar system. Of course, each planet is unique, but Saturn has several differences from other planets at once. First, it is a gas giant. Second, Saturn has rings. Thirdly, there are already many hundreds years goes by storm, and this object has a hexagonal shape.
Now it turned out that this atmospheric vortex also changes its color over time. Over four years of observation, the color of the hexagon has changed from blue to golden. Moreover, experts still cannot answer the question “why?”. There are only a few guesses. One of them is that the color changes due to seasonal changes in the atmosphere. gas giant. 
Saturn's hexagonal storm was discovered about 30 years ago. Its diameter is 32,000 km, depth - at least 100 kilometers. The speed of movement of atmospheric masses here is 150 m/s. The "eye" of a hurricane is about 50 times more sizes the middle "eye" of a hurricane on Earth. Last year, astronomers posted a video of the rotation this object, compiled from many photographs taken by the Cassini apparatus. We are talking about using approximately 30,000 photographs of Saturn.
Scientists say that each point of the hurricane rotates around the center at a speed of approximately equal speed rotation of the planet around its axis. According to experts, the hurricane is constantly creating more and more clouds. The hurricane itself is located in the region of the north pole of the planet. Perhaps this atmospheric object exists not for tens, but for hundreds of years.
Over the years of studying the hurricane, astronomers have received a large amount of information about it. atmospheric phenomenon, and have a good understanding of the processes occurring inside the hurricane. But why a hurricane changes color is still a mystery. In addition, the force that makes a section of the atmosphere of the giant planet rotate is also a mystery. Making a vortex is not that difficult, scientists say, but keeping it spinning for hundreds of years is much more difficult. “Water can easily be made to spin in a bucket. Rotating, it will form a funnel in the center. But there are no buckets on Saturn, and besides, the hurricane here is hexagonal, not a circle.”
According to NASA, seasonal changes may be the reason for the change in color of the hurricane. A Saturnian year is 29 Earth years long. The change of seasons on Saturn occurs about once every seven years. AT recent times the planet receives more sunlight than in the previous season - it was "winter" here. Perhaps the increase in the amount of energy received by the planet is the reason for the "gilding" of the hurricane.
“The change in color is probably just a consequence of the changing seasons on Saturn. In particular, the color transition from bluish to golden can be explained by the passage of photochemical reactions in the atmosphere. NASA statement. Interestingly, in 2017 it will be possible to observe the Saturnian solstice.
How does it all work? Perhaps, the scientists say, the hexagon functions as a barrier that prevents aerosol and particles formed from the outside from getting in. A close examination of the structure of the hurricane shows that two various types particles are collected within the hurricane and beyond its walls.
“There are many small clouds inside the hexagon, and more large clouds outside it. The hexagon acts as a barrier, in a way it is like a hole in ozone layer Earth,” said Kunio Sayanagi, a member of the Cassini project team.
During polar winter Saturn, which lasted from November 1995 to August 2009, no aerosols were observed in the atmosphere at the North Pole of the gas giant, which are formed due to photochemical reactions. Primarily, we are talking about the interaction of the rays of the Sun and the atmosphere of the planet. In this case, the hexagon has a bluish color.
Starting in August 2009, Saturn began to receive more and more sunlight. Perhaps in a few years Sun rays contributed to the formation of a large number of aerosols in the hexagon and in the atmosphere at the entire north pole. As a result, more "fog" appeared here and Saturn became golden.
