Hubble Confirms Decagonal Jet Stream at Saturn’s South Pole
Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope identified a decagonal jet stream encircling Saturn’s southern pole, providing a counterpart to the long-known northern hexagon. Earlier, a team of researchers reported a massive ten-sided wave pattern in the southern polar clouds, a formation larger and more dynamic than the hexagon.
Subsequent analysis of Hubble observations collected between 2023 and 2025 indicated the structure is still developing, unlike the stable northern vortex. Researchers also re-examined Cassini mission data and identified a decagonal standing-wave structure in the southern vortex, complementing the known hexagonal pattern.
Actors
Agustín Sánchez-Lavega
Leigh Fletcher
Hubble Space Telescope
European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope
University of the Basque Country
University of Leicester
Science Advances
Locations
University of the Basque Country
University of Leicester
Very Large Telescope, Chile
