Giant Space Bees
Mar. 28th, 2007 11:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
threemonkeysOK, this looks a little spooky. There is a gigantic hexagon at the north pole of Saturn. It is a persistent feature that is four times the size of the Earth.
Actually, hexagons are relatively easy shapes to explain in nature. If you have symmetric circular deformable features in close proximity they will tend to adopt a space filling configuration. The most circular space filling shape is a regular hexagon so that is the one that appears. For example, that is why honey bee cells are hexagonal. I know there has been some study into the way convection plumes in the magma of the Earth and Venus could act as a driving force for plate tectonics (or the lack of it in Venus' case). If you computer model this with a whole bunch of them, these plumes tend to adopt a hexagonal shape at the surface of the planet. Perhaps Saturn has such plumes in its lower layers but only at the pole does one make it all the way to the surface. It is always good to start the day with a little mental exercise..
Actually, hexagons are relatively easy shapes to explain in nature. If you have symmetric circular deformable features in close proximity they will tend to adopt a space filling configuration. The most circular space filling shape is a regular hexagon so that is the one that appears. For example, that is why honey bee cells are hexagonal. I know there has been some study into the way convection plumes in the magma of the Earth and Venus could act as a driving force for plate tectonics (or the lack of it in Venus' case). If you computer model this with a whole bunch of them, these plumes tend to adopt a hexagonal shape at the surface of the planet. Perhaps Saturn has such plumes in its lower layers but only at the pole does one make it all the way to the surface. It is always good to start the day with a little mental exercise..