Space / 2017-05-08
Hail the Hexagon
NASA's image library records Hail the Hexagon.
Saturn hexagonal polar jet stream is the shining feature of almost every view of the north polar region of Saturn. The region, in shadow for the first part of NASA's Cassini mission, now enjoys full sunlight, which enables Cassini scientists to directly image it in reflected light. Although the sunlight falling on the north pole of Saturn is enough
A CLOSER LOOK
Saturn hexagonal polar jet stream is the shining feature of almost every view of the north polar region of Saturn. The region, in shadow for the first part of NASA's Cassini mission, now enjoys full sunlight, which enables Cassini scientists to directly image it in reflected light. Although the sunlight falling on the north pole of Saturn is enough to allow us to image and study the region, it does not provide much warmth. In addition to being low in the sky (just like summer at Earth's poles), the sun is nearly ten times as distant from Saturn as from Earth. This results in the sunlight being only about 1 percent as intense as at our planet. This view looks toward Saturn from about 31 degrees above the ring plane. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Jan. 2
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FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
NASA Image and Video LibraryHail the HexagonOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.