Saturn's North Pole Has "Hexagonal" Storms That Look Like This

NASA's Cassini spacecraft, armed with specialized wide- and narrow-field lenses, has taken the best images to date of a unique jet stream in Saturn's atmosphere.

Unlike anything else in the solar system, Saturn's north pole is home to a six-sided jet stream in its atmosphere known to scientists simply as "the hexagon." First spotted by the Voyager mission in 1981, the hexagon has fascinated scientists but eluded attempts to capture it in detail on camera. Launched in October of 1997 and arriving in Saturn's orbit in July of 2004, the Cassini spacecraft was sent to study Saturn and its moons. And though it had brought us closer than ever, lighting conditions had kept it from taking a full, detailed picture of the phenomenon. But things are different now.

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