NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has spotted a striking new feature in Saturn's atmosphere: a huge, evolving 10-sided wave circling the planet's south pole.
It is the first time scientists have observed a large, regularly shaped jet pattern in Saturn's southern hemisphere. The structure has some similarities to Saturn's famous hexagon at its northern pole, but important differences suggest researchers may be watching a distinct atmospheric phenomenon take shape.
The results were published in the journal Science Advances.
A New Pattern Emerges on Saturn
Researchers reconstructed the development of the feature using several years of Hubble observations going back to 2023. Earlier images contained faint signs of the structure before it developed into the much clearer pattern seen more recently.
