# Giant Hexagon Storm on Saturn **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 27, 2007, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-hexagon-storm-on-saturn/397755 "2007-03-27T23:08:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-hexagon-storm-on-saturn/397755/21 "2007-03-28T22:09:36Z")
And the goofballs think that shadows on Mars have to be a Face. What will the Prozac crew think of _this?!_ ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-hexagon-storm-on-saturn/397755/22 "2007-03-28T23:20:05Z")
[QUOTE=tiger lily] Wonder if [this](http://www.cylon.org/images/classic/2001-0147.jpg) is somewhere deep inside…? [/QUOTE] Or [this](http://www.zone-sf.com/images/bstargal2.jpg). You never know. How come Saturn gets the cool-shaped storms and we don’t? _genuinely curious; any physicists?_ ---
**Author:** ![Ferd\_Burfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@Ferd\_Burfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferd_Burfel)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-hexagon-storm-on-saturn/397755/23 "2007-03-28T23:21:34Z")
Obviously it’s the hex nut that holds the axis about which Saturn revolves. Now, I’m trying to picture the celestial wrench that’s needed to torque it down. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-hexagon-storm-on-saturn/397755/24 "2007-03-29T06:26:21Z")
[QUOTE=Ferd Burfel] Obviously it’s the hex nut that holds the axis about which Saturn revolves. Now, I’m trying to picture the celestial wrench that’s needed to torque it down. [/QUOTE] Eh? What’s that? Celestial wench? See link in previous post. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-hexagon-storm-on-saturn/397755/25 "2007-03-29T08:10:47Z")
Saturn is just another word for Satan. Six is the evil number; the egg is hatching - it’s a six-sided crack - and the beast is about to emerge to devour the sky. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-hexagon-storm-on-saturn/397755/26 "2007-03-29T08:33:14Z")
[QUOTE=Kythereia] Or [this](http://www.zone-sf.com/images/bstargal2.jpg). You never know. How come Saturn gets the cool-shaped storms and we don’t? _genuinely curious; any physicists?_ [/QUOTE] IANA anything, but it’s made of very dense gas, so acts akin to a liquid - see “geometric whirlpools” thingummy. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-hexagon-storm-on-saturn/397755/27 "2007-03-29T12:24:42Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] [Hyperion](http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051003.html) [/QUOTE] And now we know what God uses to exfoliate with in the bathtub! ---
**Author:** ![Ferd\_Burfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@Ferd\_Burfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferd_Burfel)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-hexagon-storm-on-saturn/397755/28 "2007-03-29T13:53:46Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Eh? What’s that? Celestial wench? See link in previous post. [/QUOTE] Sorry. Must be my Mid-West accent. I said WRENCH. Spanner to our friends on the other side of the Atlantic and/or any Angliophiles. That said, I like your idea better. ---
**Author:** ![Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spatial_Rift_47)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-hexagon-storm-on-saturn/397755/29 "2007-03-29T15:07:22Z")
[QUOTE=Kythereia] How come Saturn gets the cool-shaped storms and we don’t? _genuinely curious; any physicists?_ [/QUOTE] Glad to be of service, **Kyth**. Saturn (and Jupiter, and Venus, and Neptune, for that matter) have, as **jjimm** said, dense atmospheres. But it’s a bit more than that: they also have a varied composition. Ours is nitrogen and oxygen: boring. Those other planets have high densities of things like hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, methane, and sulfur dioxide. That’s where the action is, and that’s what results in complicated, self-sustaining, Earth-sized storms. (Physics grad student, for the record.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-hexagon-storm-on-saturn/397755/30 "2007-03-29T15:44:10Z")
[QUOTE=Spatial Rift 47] Glad to be of service, **Kyth**. Saturn (and Jupiter, and Venus, and Neptune, for that matter) have, as **jjimm** said, dense atmospheres. But it’s a bit more than that: they also have a varied composition. Ours is nitrogen and oxygen: boring. Those other planets have high densities of things like hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, methane, and sulfur dioxide. That’s where the action is, and that’s what results in complicated, self-sustaining, Earth-sized storms. (Physics grad student, for the record.) [/QUOTE] Is there any record, of storms such as that, here? It’s an incredibly interesting phenomenon. After reading the above mentioned article about the experiments with buckets of water I wonder if the effect is caused by a combination of speed and pressure? IANAP by any stretch so it’s all speculation on my part. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-hexagon-storm-on-saturn/397755/31 "2007-03-29T15:55:16Z")
[QUOTE=Ferd Burfel] Obviously it’s the hex nut that holds the axis about which Saturn revolves. Now, I’m trying to picture the celestial wrench that’s needed to torque it down. [/QUOTE] Don’t touch it. If you loosen it too much, Jupiter falls into the lobby. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-hexagon-storm-on-saturn/397755/32 "2007-03-29T15:57:12Z")
[QUOTE=NaturalBlondChap] There are some stunning photos on the NASA site This one buried in the archives is pretty interesting Apparently the Empire has built another Death Star and it is on its way here. [http://www.nasa.gov/mission\_pages/cassini/multimedia/pia08278.html](http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/multimedia/pia08278.html) [/QUOTE] Nice. The name of the crater on that moon is Herschel. “Oh, I’m afraid that Herschel will be quite operational when your friends arrive.” ---
**Author:** ![Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spatial_Rift_47)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-hexagon-storm-on-saturn/397755/33 "2007-03-29T22:45:16Z")
[QUOTE=The Chao Goes Mu] Is there any record, of storms such as that, here? It’s an incredibly interesting phenomenon. After reading the above mentioned article about the experiments with buckets of water I wonder if the effect is caused by a combination of speed and pressure? IANAP by any stretch so it’s all speculation on my part. [/QUOTE] You got me. I’m a physics grad student, not a meteorologist, so my knowledge on the subject is limited to what I posted above. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-hexagon-storm-on-saturn/397755/34 "2007-03-29T22:51:33Z")
Can I just add that it really irritates me that all the stories I’ve heard about this – and the news story on the NASA site, fer pete’s sake – keep referring to it as a six-sided hexagon? WTF? Is this to differentiate it from the illusive four-sided or nine-sided hexagon? ---
**Author:** ![Ferd\_Burfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@Ferd\_Burfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferd_Burfel)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-hexagon-storm-on-saturn/397755/35 "2007-03-30T13:37:53Z")
[QUOTE=freckafree] Can I just add that it really irritates me that all the stories I’ve heard about this – and the news story on the NASA site, fer pete’s sake – keep referring to it as a six-sided hexagon? WTF? Is this to differentiate it from the illusive four-sided or nine-sided hexagon? [/QUOTE] Maybe they’re as mechanically inept as me. Many’s the time I’ve rounded off a nut and created 6 sided octagons. ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-hexagon-storm-on-saturn/397755/36 "2007-03-30T14:00:00Z")
[QUOTE=freckafree] Can I just add that it really irritates me that all the stories I’ve heard about this – and the news story on the NASA site, fer pete’s sake – keep referring to it as a six-sided hexagon? WTF? Is this to differentiate it from the illusive four-sided or nine-sided hexagon? [/QUOTE] It’s not the kind of thing people keep in the front (or crammed in the middle or back, for that matter) of their minds. Have you seen that show about being smarter than a 5th grader? Seriously, lighten up. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-hexagon-storm-on-saturn/397755/37 "2007-03-30T14:04:22Z")
Why shouldn’t Saturn have a hexagon anyway? It’s the sixth planet. Maybe it’s just symbolic. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-hexagon-storm-on-saturn/397755/38 "2007-04-08T12:13:03Z")
Update on the cause of the Hexagon: [http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20070408](http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20070408) Jim [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-hexagon-storm-on-saturn/397755.md?page=1)