Saturn's Strange Hexagon Recreated In the Lab

cremeglace writes "Saturn boasts one of the solar system's most geometrical features: a giant hexagon encircling its north pole. Though not as famous as Jupiter's Great Red Spot, Saturn's Hexagon is equally mysterious. Now researchers have recreated this formation in the lab using little more than water and a spinning table—an important first step, experts say, in finally deciphering this cosmic mystery. More details, including a cool demo video, at ScienceNOW."

Geometrical

[Anonymous Coward]

A hexagon? The summary is right, that is the most geometrical feature I've ever seen in the solar system. At least twice as geometrical as all those spheroids and ellipses.

Re:Geometrical

[JoshuaZ]

Spheroids, ellipses and circles arise fairly naturally from well-understood laws. Even if the laws were a bit different we'd still see them a fair bit. For example, if gravity was inverse linear planets would still organize into spheres. Orbits wouldn't be ellipses but they aren't really ellipses anyways, just ellipses to a first approximation (gravity from other planets distorts the orbits a measurable amount. This was actually used to predict the existence of Neptune based on the failure for Uranus to in as nice an ellipse). But hexagons are very rare in nature. In that sense they are a nice geometric object that we generally associate either with humans or with evolved self-organizing processes (such as bees which use hexagons because they are an efficient tiling pattern). But hexagons out of simple processes like this is just weird. In that sense this is more akin to geometrical objects like squares and octagons that you just don't see in nature. The point being made by using that term should have been clear.

Re:Mystery?

[MozeeToby]

Just for starters...

Why has it persisted for so long?
Why is it red?

Re:Hexagons are natural and common

[Anonymous Coward]

In this case, it's more like "Hexagon is stupid people's way of referring to any symmetric 6-lobed shape."
View a standing wave with periodicity of 6.

If it was a true hexagon, with perfect line segments, your explanation might be the obvious one (except that it's bogus), but nobody would be asking about the hexagon. They'd be asking what about Saturn's atmosphere makes features form in straight lines contrary to everything we know about fluid mechanics.

For the details of why you're wrong, consider a DragonballZgon (that's a regular polygon with over 9000 sides) -- more area for the same amount of line. It's only weakness is that you can't tesselate a bloody thing with it; since tortoises don't like shells with holes in them, and mass doesn't simply disappear from between the fragments when rocks crack, the hexagon has a valuable role as the tesselating shape with the lowest perimeter/area ratio.

Re:Geometrical

[adisakp]

But hexagons are very rare in nature.

Yeah, HoneyComb, SnowFlakes, Hexagonnaly symmetric Invertebrates (i.e. 6 Legged SeaStars), and Six-Sided Crystals (Rubies, sapphires, emeralds, etc) are all very rare in nature.

Re:Geometrical

[Anonymous Coward]

And does a hexagon really "enCIRCLE" something or does it "enhexagon" the north pole?