And the aliens think like bee because “Hexagons are the stablest structures that use the least material and have the most space. That is why bees build their hives with hexagonal cells out of bees wax.” (Dannon Oneironaut, http://www.dreamviews.com).

If some life forms built it, they possibly do know some mathematical proof 55.

the images are well photoshoped to look more dramatic.

they would call this the joke of the millenium.

and who knows how long it existed before that.

And this is exactly why the current inch-by-inch exploration of the Solar system has to end.

We need permanent observations of all the planets. The next orbiter needs to be in place before the first one conks out. Just look at how much more effective our exploration of Mars has become after we established a permanent presence.

Make Science! Not war!

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/5241/padraone5.gif

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/7954/padraoeasyjq6.gif

The heat source for these storms is different than on Earth, too: it comes partly from the Sun, but also from the interior of the planets themselves, and that plays a role.

I think also that the Kelvin-Heimholtz mechanism is relevant, which is an atmospheric phenomenon.

Jansson et al., 2007, Polygons on a rotating surface

Abstract:

We report a novel and spectacular instability of a fluid surface in a rotating system. In a flow driven by rotating the bottom plate of a partially filled, stationary cylindrical container, the shape of the free surface can spontaneously break the axial symmetry and assume the form of a polygon rotating rigidly with a speed different from that of the plate. With water we have observed polygons with up to 6 corners. It has been known for many years that such flows are prone to symmetry breaking, but apparently the polygonal surface shapes have never been observed. The creation of rotating internal waves in a similar setup was observed for much lower rotation rates, where the free surface remains essentially flat [1]-[3]. We speculate that the instability is caused by the strong azimuthal shear due to the stationary walls and that it is triggered by minute wobbling of the rotating plate. The slight asymmetry induces a tendency for mode-locking between the plate and the polygon, where the polygon rotates by one corner for each complete rotation of the plate.

I’ve now just checked & answered – answer is that Wikipedia makes Saturn 95 earth masses.

See : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn

Saturn is only 95 Earth masses, compared to Jupiter, which is 318 times the mass of the Earth but only about 20% larger than Saturn.

They’ve also got an animation of the hexagon storm here :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rotatingsaturnhexagon.gif

Saturn’s core is actually a truncated rhombic dodecahedron. The atmosphere just makes it look roundish.

Wouldn’t gravity compress Saturn’s core into a sphere? Assuming its massive (Ceres- size upwards) which seems a safe assumption to make.

I’m not sure whether Todd W. is joking there or not – think he probably is posting in jest but you never quite know.

Could Saturn’s core crystalise at the immense pressures and temperatures at the bottom of the planet? Could Saturn’s core be like a giant diamond as was famously suggested for some gas giants? (Originally Ouranos and Neptune but Arthur C. Clarke was inspired to use that idea for Jupiter in fictional form in his Space Odyssey novels.)

How massive is Saturn btw? Anyone know?

I think Jupiter is 318 Earth-masses & I remember from reading one of Patrick Moore’s books (The Sky at Night Norton, 1985.) that Ouranos has 14 earth mases and Neptune 17 earth masses but I’m really not sure how Saturn compares. I think its significantly less massive than Jupiter – its definitely a lot less dense as its the least dense planet in the solar systemand would float on a big enough ocean. So my guess is maybe 30-50 earth mass for Saturn? Alas, I’ve no idea if that’s anything even close to the right number. Still that’s a lot of mass and thus internal gravity and pressure.

I have read something somewhere about possible core erosian in the gas giants and gather that their cores are still very mysterious. I don’t know if there’s any chance Todd W’s idea is right but I think it very unlikely.

Great image though BA although a colour shot would be even better. Looks cool & fascinating!

http://www.physorg.com/news66924222.html

It looks like a photo of Saturn’s colonoscopy…

Ewww! That’s a planet-load of s***t!

I guess that explains why Saturn is within the rings.

Could be worse though. Could be giving Uranus an enema ..

Rhombus or dodecahedron?

Maybe I’m making a geometry FAIL here* but aren’t they two separate shapes? Can you have something that is both a rhombic and a dodecahedron? (Puzzled.)

* Been a very long time since I studied any geometry (way back in high school?) and I was rubbish at it even then. So forgive me please if what I’ve just said is utterly dumb.