NASA just released a photo of Saturn, which was taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft in 2013, showing its beautiful and bizarre six-sided vortex that swirls around the planet's north pole.
The spectacular portrait of Saturn's geometric jet stream, with a scale of 68 miles (110 kilometers) per pixel, was snapped at a distance of about 1 million miles (2 million kilometers) from Saturn, as per NASA.
The strange hexagon on Saturn was first discovered in 1988 in images taken by Nasa's Voyager spacecraft. But it was only confirmed until NASA's Cassini spacecraft observed the ringed planet in 2009, when sunlight finally began shining on Saturn's northern hemisphere, Mail reported.
Scientists suspect that the vortex remained there for a long time because there is no tall landscape such as mountains to break or disrupt its formation.
According to Space.com, the vortex, which rotates at the same speed as the planet itself spins on its axis, is about 20,000 miles (32,000 kilometers) wide and has been swirling for at least 35 years.
Although jet streams can also be found on other planets, astronomers haven't seen anything like this weather pattern anywhere else. In a study published in journal Astrophysical Journal Letters, planetary scientist Professor Raúl Morales-Juberías and his team provided an answer as to why the vortex has a hexagonal shape. According to the study, the shape is greatly influenced by the winds at the bottom and cloud level of the planet.
Since winds beneath the jet stream also plays a role in the movement of the vortex,the hexagon is not influenced by seasonal changes.
As if the hexagon is not fascinating enough, scientists have also recently discovered that Saturn's North Polar Region has changed its appearance between 2012 and 2016 --- from bluish to golden brown. The color change is thought to be an effect of Saturn's seasons.
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