Althouse: "Weird hexagon on Saturn is way bigger than scientists thought."

September 6, 2018

"Weird hexagon on Saturn is way bigger than scientists thought."

"As the polar vortex became more and more visible, we noticed it had hexagonal edges, and realized that we were seeing the pre-existing hexagon at much higher altitudes than previously thought."

70 comments:

Laslo Spatula said...: Saturn?

At first glance I thought that was video of a colonoscopy of Uranus.

I am Laslo.; 9/6/18, 7:48 AM
traditionalguy said...: A Saturnine Hex. Who knew.; 9/6/18, 7:51 AM
rehajm said...: That’s very interesting. Cold temperatures plus spinning plus strange gasses?

I could make weird shapes with ice cream recipes and the mixer.; 9/6/18, 7:54 AM
AustinRoth said...: Aliens!; 9/6/18, 7:54 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: AustinRoth said...

Aliens!

Bees!; 9/6/18, 8:00 AM
rhhardin said...: Any pattern with high symmetry is not unusual naturally.

The unlikely-to-be-found scientific challenge is to come up with a dynamic system with that pattern as the saturated fastest-growing-mode.

Earth has Rossby waves, the edges of which are the jet stream, much more chaotic.; 9/6/18, 8:02 AM
GatorNavy said...: "My God, it is full of stars".; 9/6/18, 8:05 AM
CJinPA said...: Intergalactic Warming; 9/6/18, 8:06 AM
Curious George said...: "Weird hexagon on Saturn is way bigger than scientists thought."

How can this possibly be? There was a consensus. And it was peer reviewed!; 9/6/18, 8:06 AM
exhelodrvr1 said...: Anonymous senior White House source states that they are desperately trying to keep Pres Trump from making the hexagon bigger.; 9/6/18, 8:07 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: So it looks like a standing wave imposed on the otherwise circular path of the winds. ( Wavelength = 1/6 the circumference of the circle at that latitude. )

Saturn gets much less sunlight per square unit of surface area, plus a much deeper cloud cover, which would result in much more stable weather patterns than on Earth.; 9/6/18, 8:07 AM
George Grady said...: The earth's got one of those, too: the jet stream.; 9/6/18, 8:12 AM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: It’s good to have Laslo back.; 9/6/18, 8:19 AM
Original Mike said...: Is it bigger than Earth? Because the Althouse vortex is the size of our entire planet.; 9/6/18, 8:21 AM
Ralph L said...: Way Bigger! Science at its best!; 9/6/18, 8:27 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: George Grady said...

The earth's got one of those, too: the jet stream.

Since one of those is a weird hexagon then no, the earth does not.; 9/6/18, 8:36 AM
mtrobertslaw said...: The trick is to account for the hexagonal shape.; 9/6/18, 9:06 AM
gilbar said...: Glad you're back Laslo!!!; 9/6/18, 9:09 AM
chuck said...: > The unlikely-to-be-found scientific challenge is to come up with a dynamic system with that pattern as the saturated fastest-growing-mode.

Resonance?; 9/6/18, 9:12 AM
Jupiter said...: What am I, chopped liver?; 9/6/18, 9:13 AM
Nonapod said...: It's certainly weird. I guess it has something to do with fluid dynamics of different densities of materials rotating at different rates causing the formation of vortices or gyres at regular points. I remember reading about how they were able to generate various polygons in the lab by altering the rotational speed or something.; 9/6/18, 9:21 AM
chickelit said...: Saturn is hexed.; 9/6/18, 9:22 AM
Bob Boyd said...: Don't worry, Jupiter. Weird hexagons are just a fad. The giant red spot will stand the test of time.; 9/6/18, 9:24 AM
Nonapod said...: Jupiter said...
What am I, chopped liver?

Sorry, your little brother does more interesting things.; 9/6/18, 9:24 AM
WK said...: I am sure it is not this. . . scientists and all . . .
What does hexagon tell us about instrument that captured image?

It tells us that the aperture contains either three or six blades and that where these blades meet there is a corner which results in Fraunhofer diffraction.

But since the rest of the image is round . . .; 9/6/18, 9:34 AM
tommyesq said...: "Jupiter said...
What am I, chopped liver?"

Based on the all-seeing eye, I assume you are Sauron.; 9/6/18, 9:36 AM
Original Mike said...: ”The giant red spot will stand the test of time.”

In recent years the Great Red Spot has become the Dull Brown Spot. My getting a telescope probably has something to do with it.; 9/6/18, 9:47 AM
Walter S. said...: Hmmm. Look at a soccer ball. Some patches ought to be round (if you think only about each patch by itself) but they are hexagons because they have to fit with the patches next to them.

On Saturn, there must be six large structures surrounding this one. That seems simpler than a six-cycle wave along the boundary or an camera effect. But what are the structures? They can't just be six big rotating clouds like the center one, because they would clash with each other. It's a puzzle. I'll bet the scientists are having fun!; 9/6/18, 9:50 AM
rehajm said...: Voayager found this hex back in ‘82 I see. And they still haven’t figured it out?; 9/6/18, 10:08 AM
n.n said...: We're still exploring our solar system, not to mention our own planet. We have only made a cursory near-observation at the edge of our solar system. We do not even have a consensus when human life begins. A substantial minority place their faith in Stork. Yet, the universe and time are our oyster.; 9/6/18, 10:08 AM
WK said...: “...way bigger than scientists thought...”
It’s YUGE!!!!!; 9/6/18, 10:13 AM
Achilles said...: I wonder how many people think there is a giant purple spot on Saturn’s butt.; 9/6/18, 10:17 AM
Hey Skipper said...: Laslo:

I find people who are 1000 times funnier than I can ever hope to be really annoying.; 9/6/18, 10:24 AM
Birkel said...: Worlds colliding?; 9/6/18, 10:37 AM
tcrosse said...: At first glance I thought that was video of a colonoscopy of Uranus.

We have to wipe out Klingons.; 9/6/18, 10:46 AM
LordSomber said...: Experts will tell us this is due to Climate Change.; 9/6/18, 11:10 AM
George Grady said...: Ignorance is Bliss said...

George Grady said...

The earth's got one of those, too: the jet stream.

Since one of those is a weird hexagon then no, the earth does not.

In fact, the shape of the jet stream, which separates the polar vortex from the warmer air closer to the tropics, often looks roughly polygonal, even hexagonal, when the Arctic oscillation switches from its summer pattern to its winter pattern. Of course, the earth one is a lot less stable than the Saturn one, since earth's atmosphere is interacting with the physical topography, and the earth's year is much shorter. So, well, at times, the earth does indeed.; 9/6/18, 11:27 AM
Fernandinande said...: I'll call it fake news since they don't mention the fact that the colors are fake (text not in the article: color, light, wave).

Real colors.; 9/6/18, 12:03 PM
Mr Wibble said...: If you fall through it, you'll end up a centaur or a giant praying mantis.; 9/6/18, 12:12 PM
Fernandinande said...: A couple more Drudge fake news headlines.

"Four UFOs spotted over Trump golf course..."

Ceiling lights reflected in a window.

"Burglar jailed after beaten up by monkeys..."

The drunk guy fell and broke his leg while the squirrel monkeys hid from him.; 9/6/18, 12:16 PM
~ Gordon Pasha said...: Pournelle and Nevin predicted this in Foot Fall.; 9/6/18, 12:48 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: It's the alien's military command headquarters. What chance do we have, when they have a hexagon, and we only have a pentagon?

Trump should order the immediate construction of a new, seven-sided military command building!; 9/6/18, 1:02 PM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: A septodon.

Skip that and go straight to octogon.; 9/6/18, 1:15 PM
Roy Lofquist said...: "Hexagonal ice (ice Ih) is the form of all natural snow and ice on Earth as evidenced in the six-fold symmetry in ice crystals grown from water vapor (that is, snowflakes)."

http://www1.lsbu.ac.uk/water/hexagonal_ice.html

One giant snowflake.; 9/6/18, 1:29 PM
BUMBLE BEE said...: EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG. Happy Harry Cox told you this in 1974.; 9/6/18, 1:30 PM
Trumpit said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/6/18, 1:34 PM
Trumpit said...: DonaId, Pursuant to your Executive Order on the new Space Force, we must ship all of the Deplorable Drumpf Trolls (DDT) up Uranus to spare Earth from any more of their inanus.; 9/6/18, 1:46 PM
DanTheMan said...: >>What am I, chopped liver?

Look, Jupiter... first you failed in your efforts to become a star. You just didn't have right stuff. Then you decided you'd get a ring, too, just like your neighbor. Then you went on and on about your "Great" red spot, which lately you've just been phoning in.

So, yes, your kid sister gas giant is getting all the press these days. Just face it, she's beautiful and a lot more appealing than you are. She even has a little friend with some real atmosphere.

Maybe you should give that nuclear fusion thing another go, and try harder this time, OK?; 9/6/18, 1:47 PM
Jess said...: Scientists have pretty well explained the shape through computer models, but that's not nearly as exciting as atmospheric aberrations caused by aliens.; 9/6/18, 1:48 PM
DanTheMan said...: >>DonaId, Pursuant to your Executive Order on the new Space Force, we must ship all of the Deplorable Drumpf Trolls

Trumpit, your seat on the "B" ark is confirmed. Right next to the telephone sanitizers and management consultants.; 9/6/18, 1:48 PM
DanTheMan said...: >>Trump should order the immediate construction of a new, seven-sided military command building!

"Mister President! We must not allow a polygon-sides gap!"; 9/6/18, 1:50 PM
madAsHell said...: It's the flashbacks that they promised us!!; 9/6/18, 2:05 PM
rhhardin said...: You can't cover a sphere with hexagons. You need 12 pentagons somewhere. So they go together.; 9/6/18, 2:09 PM
rcocean said...: Hey I can see Uranus.

No, I mean the planet.; 9/6/18, 2:46 PM
rcocean said...: Burt Reynolds dead at 82.

Star of Smokey and the Bandit, Cannonball Run, and Gator.

He will be missed.; 9/6/18, 3:03 PM
Fernandinande said...: Quint Asper just died.; 9/6/18, 3:03 PM
Jupiter said...: DanTheMan said...

"Maybe you should give that nuclear fusion thing another go, and try harder this time, OK?"

Julius Caesar worshiped me as the greatest of the Gods. You knew that, right? Julius was the Man, you guys aren't a pimple on his butt. But you managed to hack together a telescope or two, and now you're laughing at me 'cause my spot turned brown. Oooh, that gets my sacrificial goat! Let's see how attractive you are in 300 years or so.

You want fusion? I'll show you fusion. I'll huff, and I'll puff ....

You're gonna think Global Warming. The Joviogenic kind.; 9/6/18, 3:07 PM
MAJMike said...: Must be caused by ancient aliens.; 9/6/18, 3:24 PM
rcocean said...: Burt Reynolds best movies:

Deliverance
Sharkey's machine
Longest Yard
Smokey and the Bandit
The End.; 9/6/18, 3:27 PM
Sally said...: God has a wrench that fits that hex nut.; 9/6/18, 3:32 PM
DanTheMan said...: >>You're gonna think Global Warming. The Joviogenic kind.

Go home, Jupiter, you're drunk. I think you've had one equatorial "belt" too many, if you know what I mean and I think you do.

Yes, Julius worshipped you. And on the Ides of March, when he really needed you, where were you, huh? Probably just screwing around with the asteroid orbits again.

Look, you didn't even get around to naming your moons. You had to rely on Galileo to do that for you.

And don't get me started on why it takes you 12 years to do just one orbit...; 9/6/18, 3:36 PM
Birkel said...: Burt Reynolds was good in Boogie Nights, too.
He wasn't the star but it was a good movie, to my mind.

Deliverance and Smokey and the Bandit are one and one-A.; 9/6/18, 4:15 PM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: It's beautiful!; 9/6/18, 4:35 PM
Birkel said...: Char Char Binks,
I looked, and you, sir, are correct.; 9/6/18, 4:52 PM
Andrew said...: Is this a cafe?

Where do we get to discuss Cory "Doofacus" Booker?; 9/6/18, 5:53 PM
rcocean said...: Burt Reynolds was BIG Star in the 70s and 80s. Which is a little late for the boomers. And since they dominate our Culture, I wonder if Burt will get much publicity.

No doubt the boomers are still wondering why John left the Beatles or crying over that scene in "To Kill a Mockingbird".; 9/6/18, 7:13 PM
Josephbleau said...: "Blogger Ignorance is Bliss said...
So it looks like a standing wave imposed on the otherwise circular path of the winds. ( Wavelength = 1/6 the circumference of the circle at that latitude. )

Saturn gets much less sunlight per square unit of surface area, plus a much deeper cloud cover, which would result in much more stable weather patterns than on Earth."

We Know(TM) that the reason Saturn is cold is because there is not enough CO2. the Sun has nothing to do with the situation.; 9/6/18, 7:20 PM
bagoh20 said...: Planet porn, and not even quality stuff, just close-up, clinical type garbage.; 9/6/18, 7:46 PM
Paul said...: Hex rings??? Ahhhhhhhh.... it's Global Warming!!! First Earth, now Saturn!; 9/6/18, 9:30 PM
DanTheMan said...: Global warming? Too limiting....

Given that the ice caps on Mars are shrinking, I think we need a new term here...

Solar System Man Made Climate Change?; 9/7/18, 9:11 AM