Saturn's Hexagon

hax

This doesn't really surprise me, considering how often you see hexagons in nature. Like even when you see a glint of sunlight and it's a six-sided star shape, so I think it's just another natural phenomenon. But I could be wrong

The existence of polygonal circumpolar vortices has been observed on Earth as well, and has recently been duplicated in the laboratory: http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/34136

Remember, this is a six sided figure and Saturn is the sixth planet from the sun.
Co-incidence?

Never A Straight Answer

fractals, look it up

also hexagons "tessellate". the sum of all the angles in the shape add up to 360 degrees, so you can put them side by side and they can be repeated infinitly like triangles and squares. cool

i like that "6th planet furthest from our sun" pretty sneaky universe.

Dude, it's not their responsibility to explain everything to you.

Science isn't about knowing everything, it's about a ton of hard work and often finding out all your previous assumptions were crap every time new data presents itself. NASA, not being staffed by wizards and psychics, is not the end all be all of astronomical science. Why do people freak out when scientists admit they don't know everything? Scientists never pretend they do. Is this some kind of lingering resentment over the discovery of germs? Do people just hate bathing?

Although I'm sure you just thought you were being clever in casting your aspersions. Don't let me spoil your fun with my reason and logic.

Pi

Its Well World (Jack L. Chalker introduced a world full of HEXes in the Midnight at the Well of Souls, 1977)

Hexagons appear in nature all of the time. Be it unfocused light or snowflakes. This could be just something like that.

But I will stay with my idea of there could be something there. It is always more interesting.

Unfocused light is hexagonal? Eh?

Perhaps Josh means anamorphic lens flare, which is not in nature, but the nature of light recording on film.

The Giant Hexagon- A forcefield that the Saturnians have erected to create a lasting summer-climate...

On a more serious note:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Rotating-Water-Gives-Rise-to-Geometric-Figures-23640.shtml

I'm just waiting for the giant Allen key to show up, so we can open this thing.

"Perhaps Josh means anamorphic lens flare, which is not in nature, but the nature of light recording on film."

Actually, I presume he's talking about still-camera lens flare or the apparent shape of points of light in unfocused areas of a photo, but I wanted to make sure before explaining that such phenomena are due to the shape of the aperture.

Oh, and Ted's comment FTW.