If only there was a Wikipedia article - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn's_hexagon?wprov=sfti…
WHY???
Submitted 10 months ago by NichEherVielleicht@feddit.org to science_memes@mander.xyz
https://feddit.org/pictrs/image/45ab0732-dd8c-4721-97d1-158cfee73a1c.jpeg
Comments
MarriedCavelady50@lemmy.ml 10 months ago
DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 10 months ago
Tl;Dr
“Why is it a hexagon”
MarriedCavelady50@lemmy.ml 10 months ago
Atmosphere outside hexagon spins faster than atmosphere inside hexagon
cypherpunks@lemmy.ml 10 months ago
either that, or
veni_vedi_veni@lemmy.world 10 months ago
They would never be so obvious
y0kai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 months ago
TIL all the Civilization maps are on Saturn
ashenone@lemmy.ml 10 months ago
Only after civilization 3
gnutrino@programming.dev 10 months ago
*civ 4.
5 was the first one with a hex grid
panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 10 months ago
Which is still my favorite for some reason
KiwiTB@lemmy.world 10 months ago
4… But I assumed a typo
NichEherVielleicht@feddit.org 10 months ago
That makes sense…
technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 months ago
god playing settlers of catan here…
ZoteTheMighty@lemmy.zip 10 months ago
It’s less weird when you realize it’s not a hexagon, it’s a sine wave in cylindrical coordinates. There are a lot of negative feedback loops such that a sine wave can turn into a standing wave. You just have to get a little lucky with a couple important things like your rossby number et voila, hexagon.
SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 months ago
this.English()
hayvan@feddit.nl 10 months ago
ameancow@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Here’s a better visualization from Minute Physics idea how these “wave” patterns can make geometric shapes, using the fact that Earth’s moon doesn’t make a smooth circle around the sun.
ivanafterall@lemmy.world 10 months ago
That doesn’t sound less weird.
RobotToaster@mander.xyz 10 months ago
That’s where all the 10mm sockets end up
Triumph@fedia.io 10 months ago
Only the six point ones.
naught101@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Wat
Saapas@piefed.zip 10 months ago
I was just thinking of popping out my hex set so I can pop open Saturn
Icytrees@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
It’s bees.
g0d0fm15ch13f@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Its always bees
Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
Unless it’s Bees.
ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Because hexagon is bestagon!
Texas_Hangover@lemmy.radio 10 months ago
Excelentagon.
NotASharkInAManSuit@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Because Saturn is Catan.
MelodiousFunk@slrpnk.net 10 months ago
Base game got boring, I recommend the Ringfarers expansion.
Bleys@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Somewhat topically, Terraforming Mars clears
MyMindIsLikeAnOcean@piefed.world 10 months ago
Things like Hexagons and the golden spiral occurring in nature are interesting - but very well-travelled.
NichEherVielleicht@feddit.org 10 months ago
gedaliyah@lemmy.world 10 months ago
TLDR That’s what happens when circles get squished together.
antrosapien@lemmy.ml 10 months ago
Lazy rendering
LH0ezVT@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
I’d like to file a bug report, the texture wrapping is broken
CheeseNoodle@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Because storms want to be circles but any given gas giants atmosphere is basically a series of nothing but storms and when you tile circles you get a hexagonal grid due to the spaces in between them?
lemming741@lemmy.world 10 months ago
So it’s a soccer ball
naught101@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Standing wave. Earth kind of has one in the jet stream (3 peaks and troughs though, usually), but you can’t see it with visible light.
xxce2AAb@feddit.dk 10 months ago
Aguiar, Ana C. Barbosa, et al. “A laboratory model of Saturn’s North Polar Hexagon.” Icarus 206.2 (2010): 755-763.
Rhaedas@fedia.io 10 months ago
Get out of here with your real answers. 😜
I think the actual answer even with this source is, we sort of have some clues, but we have more questions too.
InvalidName2@lemmy.zip 10 months ago
It is because this is how these things do be. QED.
aeronmelon@lemmy.world 10 months ago
That’s actually the prevailing theory. A hexagonal shape is the path of least resistance for the wind patterns on Saturn. It probably is really that simple.
Dasus@lemmy.world 10 months ago
bestelbus22@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Classic application of the “it is what it is” lemma.
ameancow@lemmy.world 10 months ago
To better understand how nature doesn’t always make smooth circles out of circular patterns, this Minute Physics video does a banger job using the Earth’s moon as an example.
For saturn, you’re talking about storm patterns, but the concept is somewhat similar, which is that forces acting on objects (storms) can arrange circles into wave-like shapes.
Bonus@mander.xyz 10 months ago
Hexagons are just nature’s way of making arrays of triangles.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 10 months ago
What, you want to tighten the axis with a torx?
LH0ezVT@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
A T10^4
ricecake@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
Based on what I recall of the explanation by the person who figured it out: spinning makes fluid near the edge spin faster than fluid near the middle. The difference in speed creates a wave. Since it’s finite and moving, the wave interferes with itself and because of math, makes a hexagon. Something about how the wave pattern changes density and brings different glasses to the surface on the planets.
Then they showed an example by spinning a bucket, and it kinda fell flat because they had to explain that a bucket isn’t a sphere so you have to spin it just right to get it to work, but it did work in the end.Ulvain@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
Because the fox made it into the henhouse.
Now all the hexagon.
LaLuzDelSol@lemmy.world 10 months ago
You get hexagons as well when you drill a countersink bit into plywood. Something something layers.
shalafi@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Did not know that so I looked on Google.
AI Overview That statement is incorrect. Drilling a countersink bit into plywood (or any wood) produces a smooth, conical hole, not a hexagonal one.
Followed by every article talking about why the bits make hexagons, with videos and pictures.
LaLuzDelSol@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Haha I love AI! We’re so close to AGI I swear bro!
Interesting, I’ve only had the hexagon thing happen to me in plywood, but it seems it can happen in regular wood as well.
DempstersBox@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Incredible.
When my drill bits are super, super dull, they make smooth triangles. Like triangular shaped holes, with no true points or flat edges. If I get crooked while laying on it and drilling (not uncommon with a dull-ass bit) two lobes will stand out more clearly than the side I’m not leaning towards.
Not hexagons, and sure as hell not cones.
Now if they’re sharp, it’s just a fucking hole. Circular. Like they’re supposed to be
Buy me new drill bits. for science
AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net 10 months ago
I feel like I just got goatsed by Saturn
Shaper@lemmy.world 10 months ago
This was the topic of an awesome old web comic strip, I believe it was from smbc. It was a debate of two where one would simply state the existence of the hexagon, with increasing amounts of slurs. Banger.
vala@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 months ago
Those are not slurs lol
avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 10 months ago
Because hexagons are the bestagons.
halvar@lemy.lol 10 months ago
the only answer i’ll ever need
RichardDegenne@lemmy.zip 10 months ago
SUPER BESTAGON
not_so_handsome_jack@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
BEGIN
Matty_r@programming.dev 10 months ago
Bestagons, Roll out!
wait…
Hupf@feddit.org 10 months ago
Image
Matriks404@lemmy.world 10 months ago
!lemmygold