Saturn's South Pole Unveils a Ten-Sided Polar Wave
Scientists have spotted a ten-sided decagon around Saturn’s south pole, the planet’s second polygonal weather feature after the north-pole hexagon. Using 2023–2025 observations from the Hubble Space Telescope and amateur astronomers, the decagon appears as a vast atmospheric wave riding on a strong eastward jet near 60°S, migrating about 10 km/h while the jet runs about 420 km/h. The feature spans multiple altitudes and could not be reproduced by current simulations, leaving its formation mechanism and relation to a nearby anticyclone (the “Red Spot”) open to further study. The finding, published in Science Advances (Sánchez-Lavega et al., 2026), offers a real-time window into how Saturn builds polygonal weather patterns.
- Astronomers Detect a 10-Sided Structure in Saturn's Atmosphere ScienceAlert
- Scientists find a huge 10-sided wave pattern swirling in the clouds over Saturn’s south pole AP News
- A Giant Hexagon Has Been Spinning at Saturn’s North Pole for Decades. Now, Scientists Found Its Twin Gizmodo
- Saturn has a big, weird decagon around its south pole New Scientist
- Mysterious 10-sided structure discovered on Saturn Purdue Exponent
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