The hexagon of Saturn
Saturn may be most famous for its spectacular rings, but Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune have rings too. However, nothing like the giant hexagon circling Saturn’s north pole has ever been seen on any other planet, with each of its sides nearly 7,500 miles (12,500 kilometers) across — big enough to fit nearly four Earths inside. Thermal images show it reaches some 60 miles (100 kilometers) down into the planet’s atmosphere. Scientists have bandied about several other ideas concerning the hexagon’s origin. One such idea is that the hexagon arises from a complex interaction between waves undulating through the atmosphere and gas churning up.
Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
