Why is the storm on Saturn hexagonal?

They believe that vortexes occur at the planet’s north pole because of atmospheric flows deep within the gas giant, and that these vortexes pinch an intense horizontal jet near the equator—which is what warps the storm into a hexagon.

What unusual shape do Saturn’s north pole storms make?

Saturn’s hexagon is a persistent approximately hexagonal cloud pattern around the north pole of the planet Saturn, located at about 78°N.

What planet has a never ending hurricane?

The Great Red Spot is a persistent anticyclonic storm on the planet Jupiter, 22 degrees south of the equator, which has lasted at least 340 years. The storm is large enough to be visible through Earth-based telescopes. It was probably first observed by Cassini, who described it around 1665.

What is the storm on Saturn called?

the Great White Spot
Cassini scientists found that Saturn’s seasonal storm, also known as the Great White Spot, kicks up water vapor and other materials up from as deep as 100 miles (160 kilometers) below the cloud tops.

What is the likely cause of Saturn’s storms?

Occasionally, however, Saturn’s surface lights up a bit with bright white spots. These are storms, formed when water clouds in the inner layers of the atmosphere—200 kilometers below the visible surface—heat up and rise, much like a summer storm anywhere on Earth but on a larger scale.

How does it rain diamonds on Saturn?

On the planet of the rings the atmosphere holds a treasure: real showers made from diamonds. What makes precious stones rain down on this planet? On Saturn, the combination of methane with storms produces a shower of diamonds. This phenomenon occurs thanks to the combination of methane gas (CH4) with storm activity.

What are the storms on Saturn?

Storms on Saturn. Jupiter is well known for the storms that rage across its upper atmosphere, especially the Great Red Spot . But Saturn has storms too. They’re not as large, intense or large lived, but compared to Earth, they’re enormous. And Saturn has one of the big mysteries in the Solar System; a hexagon-shaped storms at its poles.

What is the hexagonal storm on Saturn?

Nothing like the hexagon has ever been seen on any other world. The structure, which contains a churning storm at its center, is about 20,000 miles (32,000 kilometers) wide, and thermal images show that it reaches roughly 60 miles (100 km) down into Saturn’s atmosphere.

What is a hexagon storm?

The Hexagon Storm. According to them, a very narrow jet stream that goes about the hurricane’s edge creates a couple of other tiny hurricanes. These little storms are the ones that push the larger hurricane’s borders and give it a hexagonal shape. In the 80s, the storm was first spotted by the twin voyager spacecraft .