Skip to comments.
Incredible Raw Image of Saturn’s Swirling North Pole (Saturn's Enigmatic Swirling Hexagon)
Universe Today ^
| November 28, 2012
| Jason Major
Posted on 11/28/2012 10:32:10 AM PST by lbryce
click here to read article
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-32 next last
The first look ever at Saturn's swirling North Pole were only partial images sent by the 1980's Voyager fly-by craft that surely must have confounded scientists with the enigmatic hexagonal shape. The theory at the time that the swirling hexagon on Saturn's North Pole were merely temporary was found to be emphatically wrong when twenty years later Cassini's cameras proved the daunting vision of the Saturn's swirling North Pole a permanent fixture of the planet.
1
posted on
11/28/2012 10:32:19 AM PST
by
lbryce
To: SunkenCiv
2
posted on
11/28/2012 10:33:54 AM PST
by
lbryce
(BHO:"Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds by way Oppenheiner at Trinity NM)
To: lbryce
This is a raw image, acquired in polarized light, from a distance of 238,045 milesThat's about the distance from the earth to the moon.
Thanks for the post, marvelous photos.
To: lbryce
Great pictures!!
Any idea what the wind speeds are?
4
posted on
11/28/2012 10:36:16 AM PST
by
aquila48
To: lbryce
5
posted on
11/28/2012 10:45:20 AM PST
by
US Navy Vet
(Go Packers! Go Rockies! Go Boston Bruins! See, I'm "Diverse"!)
To: lbryce
Has there been any theorizing on the mechanism that is creating a standing hexagonal wind flow pattern at the North Pole?
6
posted on
11/28/2012 10:46:37 AM PST
by
Captain Rhino
(Determined Effort is the hammer that Human Will uses to forge Tomorrow on the anvil of Today.)
To: lbryce
I categorically deny that this is my fault.
Why?
I'm just preempting it.
7
posted on
11/28/2012 10:50:39 AM PST
by
Darksheare
(Try my coffee, first one's free.....)
To: lbryce
I could’ve sworn I saw the Monolith at the left edge of the third picture.
8
posted on
11/28/2012 10:58:01 AM PST
by
Night Hides Not
(The Tea Party was the earthquake, and Chick Fil A the tsunami...100's of aftershocks to come.)
To: Captain Rhino
Has there been any theorizing on the mechanism that is creating a standing hexagonal wind flow pattern at the North Pole?
9
posted on
11/28/2012 11:01:34 AM PST
by
GoldMan
(Never try to rationalize an irrational mind............)
To: lbryce
probably only permanent in the sense of thousands of years. 20 yrs is nothing to the gas giant.
10
posted on
11/28/2012 11:30:27 AM PST
by
Gasshog
To: Gasshog
I would have to agree. Technically speaking you are correct.
Rephrased, I would say, the Hexagon had more permanence than what was first thought.
11
posted on
11/28/2012 12:05:22 PM PST
by
lbryce
(BHO:"Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds by way Oppenheiner at Trinity NM)
To: lbryce
Very cool images! Thanks!
To: lbryce
13
posted on
11/28/2012 12:44:27 PM PST
by
zeugma
(Those of us who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living.)
To: lbryce
Incredible Raw Image of Saturns Swirling North Pole (Saturn's Enigmatic Swirling Snowflake)
To: lbryce; Ernest_at_the_Beach; brytlea; cripplecreek; decimon; bigheadfred; KoRn; Grammy; ...
Thanks lbryce, an ‘extra, extra’ to APoD members.
15
posted on
11/28/2012 7:51:34 PM PST
by
SunkenCiv
(https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
To: 75thOVI; agrace; aimhigh; Alice in Wonderland; AndrewC; aragorn; aristotleman; Avoiding_Sulla; ...
16
posted on
11/28/2012 7:53:33 PM PST
by
SunkenCiv
(https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
To: Captain Rhino
I saw a video, I believe it was on Science channel, that showed scientists swirling liquids at high speeds in a large, clear vat. They put numerous coloring compounds of different densities in it and managed to form a hexagon around the pole much the same way it is seen here.
I believe it’s due to Saturn’s rotation and the differences in atmospheric densities and wind speeds that cause this very cool-looking feature.
17
posted on
11/29/2012 5:53:05 AM PST
by
rarestia
(It's time to water the Tree of Liberty.)
To: lbryce
To: martin_fierro
19
posted on
11/29/2012 7:32:42 AM PST
by
Lazamataz
(Islam is a religious form of Nazism.)
To: Lazamataz
Oh no you did not.
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-32 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson