Context:
- The long-lived international Cassini mission has revealed a surprising feature emerging at Saturn’s northern pole as it nears summertime: a warming, high-altitude vortex with a hexagonal shape, akin to the famous hexagon seen deeper down in Saturn’s clouds. This suggests that the lower-altitude hexagon may influence what happens up above, and that it could be a towering structure spanning hundreds of kilometres in height.
- The vortex is akin to the famous hexagon seen deeper down in Saturn’s clouds, according to the finding published in the journal Nature Communications.
- The results suggest that the lower-altitude hexagon may influence what happens above, and that it could be a towering structure hundreds of miles in height.
NASA’s Cassini
- The Cassini–Huygens mission, commonly called Cassini.
- Launched in 1997.
- It was a collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI).
- To send a probe to study the planet Saturn and its system.
- Including its rings and natural satellites.
- The Flagship-class robotic landed on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan in 2005.
- Cassini was the fourth space probe to visit Saturn and the first to enter its orbit.
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180905155444.htm
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/science/new-six-sided-jet-stream-spotted-at-saturns-north-pole/articleshow/65698024.cms