A Mysterious and Strange Hexagonal Vortex Noticed above Saturn’s North Pole

A strange and bizarre vortex has been noticed above Saturn's North pole. The shape of the vortex is hexagonal. This data was revealed by the international Cassini-Huygens mission. This hexagonal vortex is found circulating in the Stratosphere layer above the clouds. This came into view only after Saturn’s North Pole gradually moved from Winter to Summer.

A similar vortex was discovered earlier in the North Pole but it was not as high as the newly found one. The previous one was lower in the atmosphere whereas the new one runs almost hundreds of kilometers into the atmosphere. The scientists are wondering whether both the vortices are related.

The Cassini spacecraft was sent by NASA into the Saturn system in 2004. Then it was summer in the Southern hemisphere and winter in the Northern hemisphere. At that time, a similar a vortex was discovered at the South pole which was circular. Nothing had formed in the North pole.

Winters or summers on Saturn are long ones because one year on Saturn is equivalent to 30 years on Earth. So one can imagine how long the winters would be on the ringed planet’s North pole. The temperatures are mind-blowing too reaching about -158 °C. The spacecraft could not explore atmosphere at that point because of the high temperatures.

However, in 2014 Cassini could venture into the atmosphere and it discovered the vortex in the North pole. However, the revelation of two vortices at different levels in the Stratosphere has confused the scientists who are studying the occurrence closely. A planetary scientist at the University of Leicester in England, Leigh Fletcher has stated, "Either a hexagon has spawned spontaneously and identically at two different altitudes, one lower in the clouds and one high in the stratosphere, or the hexagon is in fact a towering structure spanning a vertical range of several hundred kilometers."

The scientists have been studying the phenomenon for a long time after Cassini entered the planet’s atmosphere. They were able to observe the vortex with the help of the data sent by the spacecraft’s Composite Infrared Spectrometer. Now the scientists are in a quandry because the spacecraft Cassini is out of work and it is difficult to predict what turn the vortex will take.

According to Linda Spilker, Ph.D., Cassini’s project scientist, “The mystery and extent of the hexagon continue to grow, even after Cassini’s 13 years in orbit around Saturn,” She also added, “I look forward to seeing other new discoveries that remain to be found in the Cassini data.”

The scientists are studying the phenomenon closely as they would like to solve the mystery of the two vortices. It has been noticed by them that the two vortices look similar with edges matching however, the northern one appears to be smaller and cooler. Scientists said, as summer was setting in the Northern hemisphere, they had anticipated a vortex in the North pole but they had never ever dreamt it would be a hexagonal one.

Scientists are eager to find out why the vortex in the South pole was circular and the vortex in the North pole is hexagonal. Researchers believe that the North and South pole processes are different. Probably both the poles are asymmetrical causing different shapes.

Once the scientists succeed in solving the mystery of the vortex, it may help them to understand the changes in the planet’s atmosphere and its effects.

Fletcher sums up by saying, "We simply need to know more."