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Leigh Fletcher, of the University of Leicester, UK, lead author of this new study, described Saturn's hex in an e-mail as "a meander throw" with a six-sided hexagonal appearance.
"The hex is just a stream of air and weather," said Andrew Ingersoll of the Cassini Imaging Team, about the structure, according to a NASA statement.
Although we have known Saturn's hex since 1981, this discovery of a hexagonal vortex at higher altitudes was a shock to the team. Fletcher said, "The presence of the hex, hundreds of miles above the clouds, was a complete surprise." The team did not expect to find an almost mirror image of the famous Saturn hex above. in the clouds.
Unfortunately, the seasons of Saturn last a long time. "A Saturnian year extends over about 30 terrestrial years, so the winters are long," said co-author Sandrine Guerlet of the Laboratory of Dynamic Meteorology of France. Thus, these "seasonal vortices", or vortices associated with seasons like the summer of Saturn, can not be observed for long periods.
This meant that Cassini could not see what was going on in the highlands of the North Pole for many years because it was just too cold to make observations.
However, Fletcher said it was not clear if the vortex was still there, but it was too cold to observe, or if the vortex was only visible during the warmer seasons. However, thanks to Cassini's remarkable lifespan, the craft was able to observe the planet long enough to gather invaluable data on the incredible vortexes of Saturn.
However, a number of questions remain. "How has the hexagon become, how has it remained stable for so long, and is it connected in any way to the deeper interior of Saturn?" Said Fletcher. It is also difficult to know what is the similarity between the north and south vortices, as only one pole seems to have hexagonal eddies, according to the statement. But Fletcher said that despite the outstanding issues, this work is "an important constraint on all of our future models of this fascinating structure."
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