Saturn Grew a Ten-Sided Storm — And Hubble Just Caught It

Up on the hilltop observatory, Professor Pip's tail swished wildly. "Come, come, my fellow scientists — you must see this!" He patted his pockets: pencil, notebook, tape measure, and a shiny brass compass. All present. All ready.

On a wooden easel stood a big painting of the ringed planet Saturn, with a strange, glowing shape around its south pole.

Mia counted on her paws. "One… two… three… four, five, six, seven, eight, nine… TEN sides!"

"Precisely! It's called a decagon," said Pip. "The Hubble telescope just found it swirling around Saturn's south pole. TEN perfectly straight sides — on a planet made of nothing but clouds and wind."

Leo scrunched up his nose. "But how does a windy planet make a shape? Wind is squiggly!"

"Ah! Watch." Pip pulled a wide, flat bowl of water from his coat (his pockets are quite roomy). He set it on the wooden rail, then began stirring the water in a circle with the eraser end of his pencil. WHOOSH-WHOOSH-WHOOSH. Bits of glitter he'd sprinkled in began to spin.

At first the glitter just chased itself. But as Pip kept stirring at exactly the same speed, something odd happened: the swirl started to look… edgy. Like a lumpy circle. Almost like a shape.

"Whoa!" said Leo. "It's got corners now!"

"Curiouser and curiouser, isn't it?" said Pip. "When a fluid — water or air — spins around and around at just the right speed, and there's a fast river of wind next to it going the OTHER way, ripples form along the edge. If the speeds match up perfectly, the ripples space themselves out into a shape with straight sides. This is called a jet stream wave. Saturn's is enormous — bigger than three Earths across."

"Ohhh!" said Mia. "Like when I stir soup and it makes patterns on the top!"

"Exactly right, my dear! The north pole makes a hexagon — six sides. The south pole is trying to make a decagon — ten sides. Different speeds, different shapes. And the wildest part?" He lowered his voice. "This ten-sided storm just APPEARED. Scientists have been looking for one at Saturn's south pole since 1990, and only NOW is it forming."

He looked up at the stars for a quiet moment. "Somewhere out there, right now, a wind is drawing a giant shape in the clouds — and we get to watch."

He handed Mia the pencil. "Your turn to stir. See what shape YOU can grow."