Something Strange About Saturn
Theories behind the mysterious hexagon on the surface of Saturn.
Saturn, the sixth planet in our solar system, has caused quite a stir in the news recently when the NASA Cassini Orbiter photographed a six sided geometric shape on the surface of the planet.
The hexagon had been photographed by Voyager 1 in 1980, however, at the time, it was thought to be an anomaly, a random surface pattern that could not be sustained for any length of time.
The images below, illustrate the stark, and as yet, unexplained contrast between the opposite poles of Saturn.
The image (below) on the left, is the North Pole of Saturn – note the bizarre, defined hexagonal shape etched into the atmosphere. Clouds of ammonia race anti-clockwise along the straight edges of the hexagon at over 300 miles per hour, making the 60 degree turns at the edges. The hexagon is enormous, measuring over 25,000 km across (wide enough to fit four planet earths from edge to edge inside it).
The image on the right is the South Pole of Saturn (spookily resembling an eye) is a 5000 mile wide hurricane raging within the atmosphere. The estimated wind speed of the monster storm is 350 mph, with the pole locked at the centre. Jupiter’s famed visible red spot is also a hurricane type storm – but it differs from the one on Saturn as it has no “eye”. The eye on Saturn has allowed astronomers a glimpse into the lower layers of the atmosphere, but only to see a mysterious set of dark clouds at the bottom of the eye.
Just as Earth has Aurora’s – the Aurora Borealis (Northern lights) and the Aurora Australis (Southern lights) – see the pictures below, Saturn has an aurora directly above the hexagon at the North pole. Aurora’s are formed where the planet’s magnetic field are weak, allowing charged particles from the solar wind to penetrate into the atmosphere.
Why a Hexagon?
NASA scientists have stated that they cannot identify the processes which formed and maintain the hexagon on Saturn’s surface, it has them baffled.
Whether NASA scientists really are baffled – or simply unwilling to reveal the science will unfortunately also remain a mystery.
However, it has led many to speculate about the origin of the hexagon.
Hexagons are formed through natural processes on earth – the pictures demonstrate the honeycomb, the rock formation at the Fingals Cave and “The giant’s causeway “in Ireland (see http://www.trifter.com/Europe/Fingals-Cave-and-the-Incredible-Architectural-Rock-Formations-of-Staffa.269721) and a magnified snowflake.
None of the processes which formed the hexagons in the pictures above can explain Saturn’s appearance.
There are however a couple of interesting theories which may provide and answer
Theory 1 – C ymatics
Sound is essentially a resonance, a vibration and sound affects the energy it travels through, and any matter that it comes into contact with.
Those vibrations have a surprising effect – each musical note/pitch produces an individual geometric shape!
If rice or salt is sprinkled onto a metal sheet and a resonance introduced the geometric shapes can be observed.
Check it out on you-tube, this is one of many, many links:- http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6wmFAwqQB0g&feature=related
Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland (featured in the book “The Da-Vinci Code” by Dan Brown) was built by the Knights Templar in 1477.
The chapel contains a number of stone blocks (shown in the pictures below) within its architecture. Each stone block has a different symbol, each symbol corresponds with a different musical note.
The stone masons literally recorded a hymn within the walls of the chapel with the use of cymatics which has been translated and played in the chapel.
Saturn is a classified as a planetary gas giant, with a core of rock and ice with an atmosphere comprised mainly of hydrogen and helium.
The theory that cymatic processes could have formed the bizarre hexagon within the atmosphere as a result of a localised resonance emanating from an as yet unknown source in the universe is an interesting one.
Theory 2 – Hyperdimensional Physics
This is a very complex theory, first mooted by 19th century scientists
In essence, hyperdimensional physics is based upon traditional mathematical and geometrical formulas which are then altered to introduce additional unseen dimensions where energy can be created or lost.
If you consider a traditional three dimensional cube, if you were to add a hypothetical fourth dimension, a hypercube is created. Follow this link to observe a hypercube http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:8-cell.gif This is very, very freaky!
The theory is based upon the same assumption as string theory – ie our universe (and all matter within it) is essentially a mesh of connected, vibrating energy. Quantum physicists can observe vibration in electrons, which appear to oscillate in and out of existence – which led to theories of multiple dimensions (along with theories of multiple universes).
Within our solar system , planets appear to be capable of outputting (or loss of) far more energy than they absorb from their nearest sun (even after taking into account internal chemical / nuclear reactions) -leading to the conclusion that unseen dimensions exist from which, energy transfer can occur.
Hyperdimensional physics may go some way to explain the appearance of planetary processes which result in the appearance of odd geometrical patterns visible on their surfaces.
Hexagons on other planets!
Saturn is not the only planet where hexagons have appeared
Mars
The picture below shows the retreating polar ice cap on Mars – in the central and right image, a hexagon is visible.
Jupiter
A geometric shape, noted by NASA to be a “quasi-hexagon” has been photographed in Jupiter’s northern hemisphere.
The hexagons remain the focus of continued scientific investigation, however, resolution may be a long time coming as they open up huge and complex questions about the entire universe and everything in it, from the smallest sub-atomic particle to the largest body of mass.
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30 Responses to “Something Strange About Saturn”
On November 30, 2008 at 7:46 am
An astonishing article. What a good write!
On November 30, 2008 at 8:09 am
I love these kinds of articles, you put alot into it as well, great work.
On November 30, 2008 at 10:55 am
I love your articles, you have such wide ranging interests and manage to distil the information for us so well.
On November 30, 2008 at 11:37 am
i really love such articles………superb work……….keep it up.
On November 30, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Same as ur guide above – stirling and stunning stuff!
On November 30, 2008 at 12:22 pm
So interesting, in fat I had to blog it!
http://webphemera.blogspot.com/2008/11/there-something-strange-about-saturn.html
Thanks!
On November 30, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Extremeley well done article. I recently heard about this hexagon. Fabulous work!
On November 30, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Fascinating and well written, thank you.
On November 30, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Very interesting article. I’m fascinated by outer space.
On November 30, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Really interesting and great write.
On November 30, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Nice
-thestickman
On November 30, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Ditto what everyone above has said. I love how you can take a really abstract concept and explain it clearly. Great job!
On November 30, 2008 at 11:28 pm
When I was a boy, I’m always excited about this planet..because it’s the only one with that mysterious ring around it.
I always thought that one day, I can venture to this planet. Well, now that I’m older, I don’t think i will do that…it’s full of poisonous gas. LOL.
On November 30, 2008 at 11:53 pm
This is truly bizarre. When you put such an article in perspective, it just goes to show how little we know about the universe. Truly unbelievable. It’s almost mind-boggling how fats those clouds are forming, and the fact that four earths could fit inside the hexagonal one. Good grief, this article made me think..lol. Got to blog this one..
On December 1, 2008 at 8:17 am
I too, am a Space lover. I love the pictures and the way you presented this article.
On December 1, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Instead of you boys and girls speculating about hyperdimensional physics et al, why not do some research into Plasma cosmology and you will find the answer to this and many other astrophysical anomalies has been known about for quite some time, but fails to be accepted by mainstream science due to the many careers that will lie in ruins once the truth emerges.
On December 1, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Wow. Well researched article s. Very impressive write, also thanks for the link to my piece about the hexagonal rock formations on Staffa.
C
On December 1, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Very informative, and intriguing..
On December 2, 2008 at 5:39 pm
“Whether NASA scientists really are baffled – or simply unwilling to reveal the science will unfortunately also remain a mystery.”
Why on Earth would NASA be unwilling to reveal the science? Why would any planetary scientist (they don’t all work for NASA) be unwilling to reveal what they think is going on? Surely not a conspiracy theory?
On December 3, 2008 at 5:12 am
I have been wondering whether a superfluid phase in Saturn’s atmosphere might cause this hexagonal effect. In a superfluid, the rotation is shared between a series of quantum rotation cells. With slow rotation, the entire fluid rotates as one, but there is a limit to how much rotation it can take before it splits into multiple cells, sharing the rotational momentum between them. More rotation produces more cells. I assume that in a planetary atmosphere these cells would be aligned towards the centre of gravity and arranged, as all circular forms arrange themselves, in a hexagonal pattern. Could this honeycomb formation deeper down produce a large scale hexagon in the non-superfluid parts of the atmosphere? Anyone got a supercomputer handy to model it?
On December 6, 2008 at 1:10 am
The eye is shaped like Jupiter’s eye so I am no as surprised
as the hexagon, but the eye is surrounded by circular winds instead of horizontal stripes like Jupiter’s, so that eye of saturn is in a place where it shouldn’t be. Something must be holding that pattern up.
Take a look at Iapetus, the saturn moon too. Its strange man!.
On December 6, 2008 at 11:13 pm
fascinating read, however the interference patterns look nothing like the stones on the chapel. The symmetry that one can produce by ANY kind of interference pattern, using sound, light, water waves are similliar and repeatable. In the case of a circular pattern (as in the example: you drop something in the middle of a plate) you\’ll always end up in somewhat geometrical patterns that resemble equilateral shapes (triangle, square, pentagon, hexagon and so forth). They simply would be just symmetrical along one axis. Look again closely at the stone blocks at the chapel and you\’ll realize they only show bisymmetrical shapes, shapes not found in the experiment above. Mulitsymmetrical shapes do sometimes have bisymmetrical shape but not vice versa.
So the statement of:
\”The chapel contains a number of stone blocks (shown in the pictures below) within its architecture. Each stone block has a different symbol, each symbol corresponds with a different musical note.
The stone masons literally recorded a hymn within the walls of the chapel with the use of cymatics which has been translated and played in the chapel.\”
makes for an interesting read in the DaVinci code but is also pure fantasy. However the theory 1) of resonance to produce a hexagonal shape is plausible.
The hypercube is fun isn\’t it? Did you have a look at the wikipedia and see it turn? To make it more plausible though and put it back on a more manageable level one could just take a 2-dimensional shape. Lets for instance consider a an equilateral triangle. The \”hypertriangle\” in 3-dimensional space would a pyramid. So now, we the observer, living in a universe only made up of 2 dimensions would only be able to look at the projections of a pyramid (onto our plane of existence) and what we would end up looking at is very similarly convulsing form of triangles. The interesting thing here is: if you do this long enough you get a very clear idea of the pyramid. And similarly if you have done this long enough in 3 dimensions, mathematicians or just younger kids with a knack for geometry will produce a mental image of that 4-dimensional shape. I find this interesting because most of us are very impressed be an additional dimension, but not because we are \”too stupid\” to really imagine one. We simply don\’t get to see one so often and as we get older it gets harder to imagine things we haven\’t seen yet.
The second part doesn\’t really produce an argument it just goes from a 4-dimensional cube (fun indeed) to string theory with no connection in between. The \”The theory is based upon the same assumption\” doesn\’t say what the same assumption is. Is it 4 dimensional space? Anyways, he goes on to
\”Quantum physicists can observe vibration in electrons, which appear to oscillate in and out of existence\” which again is only half the truth. In quantum physics it is getting harder and harder to see where the electron is or oscillates (simply because of its dual character being a particle and a wave being more obvious at these levels), so you only get probabilities of where it is. However, in quantum mechanics, if you sum up all the probabilities (in our space) they always end up 1. That means the electron is in our space not elsewhere, so \”in and out of exstence\” is a misnomer. Of course all of this fails once one tries to look at a big bang through quantum mechanics and relativity. And that is one of the places where string theory makes its appearance. An important thing to note though: string theory so far expresses nothing but the desire to unify all remaining interactions that we observe. It\’s a theory, it has not produced a single result that can not be explained through other means. Until it does it remains an interesting theory (and us being human had many of those).
\”Within our solar system , planets appear to be capable of outputting (or loss of) far more energy than they absorb from their nearest sun (even after taking into account internal chemical / nuclear reactions) -leading to the conclusion that unseen dimensions exist from which, energy transfer can occur.\”
Well, either they are in our solar system and then they absorb energy from our sun or not. So I am not quite sure which phenomenon he is talking about. There are phenomenon in astronomy were loss of mass (and therefore energy) is observed. I just don\’t know which one he is talking about. The conclusion of unseen dimensions in the argument presented is unsound as is. So I am not sure how the writer leaps from the hypercube to quantum physics back to the hexagon. The only thing for the reader to connecting the two is looking at a projection of the hypercube and seeing a hexagon. So, theory 2 is actually not a theory. We are just looking at 2 pretty pictures and leep frog through theories that sound interesting.
Just my 5 cents worth
On December 6, 2008 at 11:49 pm
In my post (line 6) it should read:
They simply would not be just symmetrical along one axis.
On December 7, 2008 at 4:39 am
Thanks for your comments and thoughts
(by the way Tom, I am a she, not a he)
The theory behind hyperdimensional space is so complex, to go into the detail to explain the existence of the hexagon would take pages and pages – I have only touched upon the theories and if the reader is interested – they can look at the evidence in detail.
On December 7, 2008 at 8:14 pm
Go to http://www.enterprisemission.com
Richard Hoagland was talking about this long ago.
On December 16, 2008 at 8:43 am
It seems to me that there is an obvious connection between the aurora’s, or better yet, it’s magnetic field, on Saturn and the geometrical shapes in the clouds. the light from the aurora appears to be brighter and more dense along the edges of the geometric pattern.
Since the aurora is made up of charged particles, isn’t it possible that it is somehow attracting certain elements in the atmosphere and condensing them in these regions causing the pattern.
Certainly the charged particles are swirling due to there electrical charge, causing regions to attract and restrict, while other regions would be repelling each other. The areas that are repelling would cause a void that could be containing these atmospheric elements to be constricted within the void.
Or, perhaps, it’s similar to sunspots. Maybe the magnetic field is causing cooler spots (or hotter). Personally, I like the aurora idea. Either way, can it possibly be a coincidence the geometric pattern is so perfectly in line with the aurora which is caused by the magnetic field?
I wonder how the pattern would line up to a schematic of the magnetic field energy lines.
On December 18, 2008 at 12:46 am
simply fasinating
On December 30, 2008 at 7:43 am
Almost as strange as what you will find by googling 9/11 and Hurricane Erin – why did Hurricane Erin just happen to be closest to NYC at about 8am on the morning of 9/11?
Why does virtually no one know this?
It also seems to have a geometric shape in its eye (a pentacle). Does someone know stuff that we don’t? I very much think so…
On January 13, 2009 at 5:53 pm
this does not help me at all it is stupid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On April 3, 2009 at 4:23 pm
HOOOOAAAAGLAAAAAAND
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