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Saturn's Strange Hexagon Recreated In the Lab

Posted by timothy on from the reproducing-the-big-wet-spot dept.

cremeglace writes "Saturn boasts one of the solar system's most geometrical features: a giant hexagon encircling its north pole. Though not as famous as Jupiter's Great Red Spot, Saturn's Hexagon is equally mysterious. Now researchers have recreated this formation in the lab using little more than water and a spinning table—an important first step, experts say, in finally deciphering this cosmic mystery. More details, including a cool demo video, at ScienceNOW."

19 of 103 comments (clear)

  1. Geometrical by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A hexagon? The summary is right, that is the most geometrical feature I've ever seen in the solar system. At least twice as geometrical as all those spheroids and ellipses.

    1. Re:Geometrical by JoshuaZ · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Spheroids, ellipses and circles arise fairly naturally from well-understood laws. Even if the laws were a bit different we'd still see them a fair bit. For example, if gravity was inverse linear planets would still organize into spheres. Orbits wouldn't be ellipses but they aren't really ellipses anyways, just ellipses to a first approximation (gravity from other planets distorts the orbits a measurable amount. This was actually used to predict the existence of Neptune based on the failure for Uranus to in as nice an ellipse). But hexagons are very rare in nature. In that sense they are a nice geometric object that we generally associate either with humans or with evolved self-organizing processes (such as bees which use hexagons because they are an efficient tiling pattern). But hexagons out of simple processes like this is just weird. In that sense this is more akin to geometrical objects like squares and octagons that you just don't see in nature. The point being made by using that term should have been clear.

    2. Re:Geometrical by AP31R0N · · Score: 4, Informative

      Bubbles will tessalate into hexagons with the right pressure. i guess it's more stable (closer to circles/spheres) than other shapes.

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    3. Re:Geometrical by jonadab · · Score: 3, Informative

      Hexagonal crystals are also not unusual, for similar reasons.

      What would be weird would be a naturally occurring repeating pattern of different shapes, e.g., a soccerball-like repeating mixture of pentagons and hexagons, or a pattern of octagons that each adjoin another octagon on the north, south, east, and west edges, with squares (angled at 45 degrees) filling the gaps between the ne, sw, se, and nw edges, and bonus points if adjoining octagons are different colors while the ones across squares from eachother are the same color. Show me THAT occurring naturally, and I'll stand there with my jaw hanging open staring at it in wonderment.

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    4. Re:Geometrical by amicusNYCL · · Score: 3, Funny

      They are as rare as proper capitalization.

      --
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  2. Re:Yawn by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 5, Informative

    RTFA- the vortex previously used to explain this effect was gone when Cassini came by- but the hexagon was still there. This is a laboratory experiment, completely reproducible, that explains the effect in a new way.

    --
    SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
  3. Similar article from some years ago... by comm2k · · Score: 3, Interesting

    See http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060515/full/news060515-17.html

    1. Re:Similar article from some years ago... by chaodyn · · Score: 4, Informative

      That was done with one fluid, and looked at the shape of the "empty" space at the bottom of the bucket - the article also states that the researcher didn't think it would apply to large bodies like planets, but possibly for small bodies like tornadoes. This recent experiment used a base fluid rotating at one speed and a "disk" to rotate a subset fluid at a higher rate, simulating jet streams - seems much more relevant than the previous experiment, IMO.

  4. Duh! by oldhack · · Score: 4, Funny

    That's where you stick the socket in. Stupid scientists.

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  5. SATURN HAS 6 CORNER by butalearner · · Score: 5, Funny

    SIMULTANEOUS 6-DAY

    TIME HEXAGON

    IN ONLY 10.57 HOUR ROTATION

    1. Re:SATURN HAS 6 CORNER by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Burma Shave?

    2. Re:SATURN HAS 6 CORNER by Sparkycat · · Score: 3, Informative

      $1,000.00 TO ANYONE WHO CAN DISPROVE THE HARMONIC HEXAGON.

      ( http://www.timecube.com/ for anyone not getting the joke)

  6. Chalker's Well World by weston · · Score: 4, Funny

    "A giant hexagon encircling its north pole?"

    Well, that sounds familiar:

    "The team discovers a surface anomaly near the north pole of the planet, where a hexagonal hole appears for a brief interval every day. "

    I for one welcome... er, wonder where our Markovian Overlords went.

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  7. Missing the obvious... by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's one of the valid places to move your Mech.

  8. Similar Features in Mercury by Sir+Holo · · Score: 4, Informative

    Similar oscillations have been observed in Mercury.

    Click on Activity 3.

  9. Isn't this a dupe from 2007? by thomasdz · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Dupe? http://science.slashdot.org/story/07/04/26/1626245/Possible-Clue-On-Saturns-Hexagon?art_pos=3

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  10. Re:Mystery? by Rockoon · · Score: 4, Funny

    Why is it on Jupiter?

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    "His name was James Damore."
  11. Re:But, what I want to know... by Chris+Burke · · Score: 3, Funny

    That's what the TUCKS probe is supposed to find out!

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    The enemies of Democracy are
  12. Buckyballs, natural or only synthetic by telomerewhythere · · Score: 3, Informative

    You know, I thought that at first too, and maybe you know more than I, but the article I linked says they occur naturally.

    Minute quantities of the fullerenes, in the form of C60, C70, C76, and C84 molecules, are produced in nature, hidden in soot and formed by lightning discharges in the atmosphere.[6] Recently, fullerenes were found in a family of minerals known as Shungites in Karelia, Russia.

    I looked up a few sources, and they agree. Here is one that looks legit: http://www.springerlink.com/content/w3856554l87733w3/fulltext.pdf?page=1