01 SEPTEMBER: Our solar system consists of eight planets, each with its own moons/moons. However, the only planet that attracts the attention of scientists is the second largest helium gas giant, Saturn. But what is so wonderful about this? Well, it has rings made of gas and dust which give the most majestic look to this planet. It has about 82 moons. 10 million tons of diamonds rain down on Saturn every year. Apart from all this, there is one thing that surprises everyone.
Saturn’s north pole, located about 79 degrees north, is a hexagonal cloud (with 6 arms), each about 14,500 kilometers long. It was first discovered in 1981 during the Voyager mission and later confirmed in 2006 by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. The surface area of the Hexagonal Cloud is 192 million square miles, which is the same as Earth’s surface area of 197 million square miles. Each side of the Hexagonal Cloud is longer than the diameter of the Earth.
Hexagonal cloud is also known to change color. In November 2012, Clouds were seen in blue color, While it was seen in yellow color in September 2016. Scientists suggest that this may be due to haze-causing chemicals that change with the seasons.
It is also related to the vortex (Whirlpool), which is a swirling mass of fluid and air. It has been observed that the vortex is present only during the warm period. Atmospheric currents inside the planet cause these giant vortices as they create huge and defined horizontal jets near the equator. Voyager and Cassini have identified features that may explain how it formed. The points of the hexagonal cloud rotate at the same rate at which Saturn rotates on its axis. If we consider the analogies to Earth, a jet stream air current as observed on Earth, on Saturn flows eastwards at 360 km/h.
This hexagonal cloud is still not properly studied by scientists. At its center, a giant storm can be seen which gives rise to various cloud formations. The captured images also showed hazy layers, although more atmospheric data is needed to decode Saturn’s hexagon.
~ Vishalika Sharma