Image: NASA

SATURN

Saturn EPIC model test results from C. M. Santori's 1997 MIT B.S. thesis "Effects of Vertical Potential Vorticity Structure on Saturn's Polar Region." A snapshot of 5 layers for one model are shown, which exhibit a 7-sided heptagon that arises from shear instability. By varying the background wind as a function of height, polygons of various degrees were obtained, from squares to hexagons to the heptagon shown above. However, in this study they were not as persistent as Saturn's Polar Hexagon, which is maintained by the presense of a large anticyclone on one of its sides.

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