![\"EMBARGO](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SEI_310350645-95dd.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe ten-sided structure has left scientists with more questions (Picture: NASA)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tThe ten-sided structure has left scientists with more questions (Picture: NASA)<\/p>\n
A unique ten-sided structure discovered in the atmosphere of Saturn has baffled scientists.<\/p>\n
Using the Hubble Space Telescope, images from amateur astronomers and observations by a University of\u00a0Leicester\u00a0scientist, a team of scientists has revealed\u00a0a wave around the planet\u2019s South Pole.<\/p>\n
The discovery is nearly identical to another hexagonal structure at its North Pole.<\/p>\n
The mysterious finding was published in the journal Science Advances today and adds to the continuing mystery of atmospheric phenomena on the gas giants of our Solar System.<\/p>\n
When the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft flew past Saturn in 1980 and 1981, one of their many discoveries was a hexagonal wave encircling the planet\u2019s north pole within its clouds. <\/p>\n
\t\t![\"EMBARGO](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SEI_310350673-b6a6.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe planet has left scientists wondering what other mysteries its atmosphere could hold (Picture: NASA)<\/p>\n
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Start your day informed with Metro’s News Updates<\/a> newsletter or get Breaking News<\/a> alerts the moment it happens. <\/p>\n The hexagon has persisted to this day, for more than one Saturnian year (which is equivalent to about 30 Earth years).<\/p>\n Despite the symmetry in the distribution of winds and atmospheric dynamics across the planet, in all the years since then, no similar structure had been observed in the southern hemisphere.<\/p>\n But recently, as the planet\u2019s southern hemisphere became more visible from Earth between 2023 and 2025, images taken by amateur astronomers and the Hubble Space Telescope revealed not a hexagon but a 10-sided polygon around the planet\u2019s south polar region.<\/p>\n Images subsequently obtained by the HST in 2024 and 2025, as well as those taken with ground-based telescopes, confirmed its existence.<\/p>\n Co-author Professor Leigh Fletcher from the School<\/a> of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leicester said: \u2018Saturn still can surprise us \u2013 given the season, Saturn\u2019s southern hemisphere is emerging from more than a decade in winter darkness. <\/p>\n \u2018Something has clearly changed during that long winter when we weren\u2019t looking, presenting us with this stunning new feature around the South Pole.\u2019<\/p>\n Lead author Agust\u00edn S\u00e1nchez-Lavega of Universidad del Pa\u00eds Vasco EHU said: \u2018This research raises many fundamental questions about atmospheric phenomena on gas giants. <\/p>\n \u2018Why is Saturn the only planet to form this type of polygonal waves? Is the phenomenon in any way related to the 5- and 8-sided polygonal arrangement of the cyclones surrounding Jupiter\u2019s poles?\u2019<\/p>\n Professor Fletcher added: \u2018What\u2019s really exciting about this work<\/a> is the involvement of amateur observers with their backyard telescopes, sharing their images online, and searching Saturn\u2019s clouds for new discoveries. It was their data that first hinted something exciting was going on.<\/p>\n \u2018The hexagon itself is now hidden from view, as the North Pole disappears into autumn and winter. Who knows whether that will still be there next time we can look? And how long this new decagon will hang around for?\u2019<\/p>\n Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n For more stories like this, check our news page<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow
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