Hubble Observations Show Ten-Sided Cloud Pattern at Saturn's South Pole
NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for September 8, 2026 featured recent Hubble Space Telescope observations of Saturn showing a decagon, or ten-sided, cloud pattern around the planet's South Pole [1]. A hexagonal, six-sided cloud formation has been known at Saturn's North Pole since 1987, when it was identified in data collected by NASA's Voyager spacecraft during flybys in the early 1980s [1]. The geometric boundaries may be produced by waves formed as fast-moving gas away from the poles interacts, though the explanation is described as a possibility rather than a confirmed cause [1].
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