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These false-colour images were taken by Cassini showing the huge hurricane-like storm system rotating directly above the north pole of Saturn. The central vortex on the right-hand images has a diameter of 2000 km and the entire hexagonal north polar region in the left-hand image has a diameter of about 20000 km; the Earth would fit into this region twice. The wind speeds within this hurricane of above 500 km/h exceed those of terrestrial hurricanes by far. The reason for the hexagonal shape of this storm system is still not fully understood but recent research indicates that this permanent storm system might be connected to the deeper inside of this planet by a standing wave. The system is extremely stable over long time periods and does not alter with the extreme changes of the seasons. The images are not in true colour. You can also see a video about this mysterious hurricane.
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