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Opis: Why are Saturnâs poles geometric? Saturnâs North Pole has been known to be surrounded by a hexagonal (6 sides) cloud since discovery in 1987 in data taken by NASAâs Voyager spacecrafts, which quickly flew past the ringed world in the early 1980s. Now, recent observations of Saturn by the Hubble Space Telescope reveal a slightly different geometric cloud pattern around the South Pole: a decagon (10 sides). The geometric boundaries are possibly caused by waves when the fast-moving gas away from the poles interacts with slower-moving gas closer to the poles. In the featured image composite by the Hubble taken last year, the South Pole of Saturn is marked by an X and surrounded by bands of circulating clouds. The decagon appears most prominent in the dark inner regions. The northern hexagon has proven stable for over 40 years, while the stability of the southern decagon will surely remain a topic of research.
Autorzy i wydawcy:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
Przedstawiciel NASA: Amber Straughn,
obowiązują określone prawa.
Polityka prywatności NASA,
polityka dostępności NASA,
uwagi.
Serwis prowadzony przez:
ASD at
NASA /
GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
oraz Michigan Tech. U.