Bizarre Hexagon on Saturn Shines in Spectacular NASA Photo

Saturn's unusual hexagon-shaped vortex and bands of swirling clouds are captured on this gorgeous new picture from NASA's Cassini spacecraft.

Credit score: NASA/JPL-Caltech/House Science Institute

A surprising new picture of Saturn's north pole spotlights the planet's weird hexagon-shaped vortex and delightful bands of swirling winds.

NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured this dramatic view on Sept. 5, because the probe flew 890,000 miles (1.four million kilometers) above the planet. The picture, which NASA launched Monday (Nov. 14), appears towards the sunlit facet of Saturn's rings.

A six-sided jet stream generally known as "the hexagon" — which measures roughly 20,000 miles (32,000 kilometers) large — swirls above Saturn's north pole, with wind speeds reaching upward of 200 mph (322 km/h). The darkish spot seen within the middle of the vortex is believed to be the attention of the hurricane-like storm, NASA officers mentioned in a press release debuting the picture. [Stunning Photos: Saturn's Weird Hexagon Vortex Storms]

This distinctive climate system on Saturn was first noticed by NASA's Voyager mission within the early 1980s. Along with the unusual hexagonal vortex, the planet boasts thick, stunning bands, that are created by superfast winds within the higher environment.

"Every latitudinal band represents air flowing at totally different speeds, and clouds at totally different heights, in comparison with neighboring bands," NASA officers mentioned within the assertion. "The place they meet and circulation previous one another, the bands' interactions produce many eddies and swirls."

The newly launched picture captures an up-close view of Saturn's stunning bands, "which considerably resemble the brushwork in a watercolor portray," NASA officers mentioned.

The Cassini spacecraft has been orbiting Saturn since 2004, offering high-resolution photographs of the ringed planet. The probe is within the final yr of its mission and can finish its life with an intentional dive into the planet's environment in September 2017.

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