Scientists find a huge 10-sided wave pattern swirling in the clouds over Saturn’s south pole
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Scientists have discovered an enormous 10-sided wave pattern in the icy ammonia clouds over Saturn's south pole.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – Scientists have discovered an enormous 10-sided wave pattern in the icy ammonia clouds over Saturn's south pole.
Article outline
- What happened
- Background
- The bottom line
For context, the spinning, meandering decagon appears to be even bigger and more unstable than the hexagon of clouds around Saturn's north pole that was spied by NASA's twin Voyagers in the 1980s, the Spanish-led team documented Wednesday.
This new jet stream formation popped up in the Hubble Space Telescope's sights in 2023 after earlier observations came up empty. When Saturn's south pole was tilted away from Earth and therefore out of view, the researchers suspect the bizarre atmospheric phenomenon may have formed between 2017 and 2023.
It could still be evolving, with a single side of the decagon already exceeding 10, 000 miles (16, 700 kilometers).
For context, the findings are significant since it indicates "the 'unique' hexagon is not as extraordinary as we thought, " lead author Agustin Sanchez-Lavega with the University of the Basque Country noted in an email.
For now, scientists find a huge 10-sided wave pattern swirling in the clouds over remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.