Boxing in the Pole
A six-sided box of clouds surrounds Saturn's north pole in this image from the Cassini spacecraft. Cassini used an infrared instrument to view the polar region, which is in the shadow of Saturn's nightside, and will remain dark for about two more years. Another craft first saw the hexagonal structure a quarter-century ago, and the Cassini view shows that it is a long-term phenomenon in Saturn's clouds. The Cassini images also probe much deeper -- almost 50 miles (75 km) down into Saturn's clouds. So far, scientists have no explanation for the unusual feature, which spans about 15,000 miles (25,000 km). [NASA/JPL/Univ. Arizona]
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