Saturn - South Pole

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope images of Saturn (left) and a south-pole projection (right) highlight a newly tracked ten-sided atmospheric wave — a geometric counterpart to the long-known northern hexagon. Credit: NASA/ESA/STScI/Sánchez-Lavega et al. (ESA/Hubble heic2612a, CC BY 4.0).

"We thought this was an interesting post from NASA" - Joel Cairo CEO of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.  

"Astronomers have discovered a massive 10-sided atmospheric wave (a decagon) encircling Saturn’s south pole. Published in Science Advances in September 2026, the discovery was led by Agustín Sánchez-Lavega and compiled using observations from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, ESO's Very Large Telescope, and ground-based amateur astronomers. 

 

​The structure provides a dynamic counterpart to Saturn's famous northern hexagon, which has been observed since the 1980s Voyager encounters.  

​Key Features of the Decagon

​Structure & Size: The decagon is a stationary-like wave pattern embedded within a high-speed eastward jet stream at southern mid-latitudes (around 58°S to 63°S). Each side measures roughly 10,000 miles (16,700 kilometers) across.  

​Wind Dynamics: While the encircling jet stream travels at speeds near 240 mph (400 km/h), the decagonal wave pattern itself drifts very slowly eastward at just 6 mph (10 km/h) relative to Saturn's rotation.  

​Vertical Depth: Observations in multi-wavelength infrared and visible spectrums demonstrate that the pattern penetrates down through multiple atmospheric cloud layers and haze, confirming it is a deep, 3D atmospheric wave rather than a shallow cloud-top feature".  Gary Gemini Coms Manager at the JPO.

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