Sophie's post of scientific inquiry: Saturns hexagonal vortex.

1. 2015-09-19 at 11:01 PM UTC

   #1
   

   Sophie Pedophile Tech Support
   For those of you who don't know Saturn is the 6th planet from the sun, it's a gas giant meaning that most of the planet is composed out of hydrogen and helium. Now a peculiar feature on Saturn is a huge ass vortex which in diameter is larger than the earth. What's special about this vortex however is that it is shaped hexagonally.
   
   
   
   To understand this feature we must first know how a vortex is created. Just like on earth a vortex or hurricane is formed by the coriolis effect which is the tendency of objects to deflect relative to a rotating frame of reference. Well, that's the physics definition. What generally happens is that there is an interaction between low and high pressure gas(air) to form a classical cyclone structure as illustrated by the image below.
   
   
   
   Red is high pressure gas while blue is low pressure gas. The difference in pressure is due to the fact that gas expands when it is warm and the reverse is true when it cools down. The warming in this case is done by the sun. This same process happens on Saturn.
   
   Ahhh, but you might ask, why it is that the vortex is shaped like a hexagon? Well it has to do with fluid dynamics, but the short version is that gas of different temperatures and composition rotate at different speeds in a system like this and it is the difference in rotation speed at different altitudes that gives the feature its distinct shape.
2. 2015-09-20 at 4:41 AM UTC

   #2
   The Self Taught Man Black Hole
   Snow is hexagonal, I'm just sayin'
3. 2015-09-20 at 4:58 AM UTC

   #3
   

   AngryOnion Big Wig [the nightly self-effacing broadsheet]
   My anus is an hexagonal vortex that shits shit.
   Just sayin'
4. 2015-09-20 at 11:27 AM UTC

   #4
   

   Sophie Pedophile Tech Support
   Ya'll faggots are too dimwitted to appreciate some awesome science when you see it. But seriously, i made this thread because Bill Krozby wanted to know about this and where is the fag? Nowhere to be found of course.
5. 2015-09-20 at 1:18 PM UTC

   #5
   The Self Taught Man Black Hole
   I'll admit it's out of my sphere. But seriously most six sided shit in nature is crystalline so that's why I mentioned snowflakes. Hmm, it on one of Saturn poles. Maybe it's an enormous snowflake made of frozen helium.
6. 2015-09-20 at 1:21 PM UTC

   #6
   

   Sophie Pedophile Tech Support

   I'll admit it's out of my sphere. But seriously most six sided shit in nature is crystalline so that's why I mentioned snowflakes. Hmm, it on one of Saturn poles. Maybe it's an enormous snowflake made of frozen helium.

   
   It's too warm on Saturn for helium to be a solid. In fact i do believe it has to be close to absolute zero for helium to be a solid, lol.
7. 2015-09-20 at 1:33 PM UTC

   #7
   The Self Taught Man Black Hole
   Well fuck, back to the old drawing board.
8. 2015-09-20 at 2:49 PM UTC

   #8
   

   mmQ Lisa Turtle
   Because stable atmosphere and jet streams and increased velocity as you travel outward from the pole and eddy currents. Overlapping jet streams essentially produce different hexagonal shapes, of which many have been recreated in a laboratory setting, Triangles, septagons, pentagons not withstanding. The reason this one is a hexagon is more-or-less based on the conditions of Saturn's atmosphere and the fact that there is no surface of the planet below in which to disrupt the pattern.
   
   I have no idea what I'm talking about.
9. 2015-09-20 at 4:17 PM UTC

   #9
   

   Sophie Pedophile Tech Support
   Actually in fluid dynamics experiments, these patterns have been recreated and it's not even wrong when you say the shape is due to the specific conditions on the planet. Whether it has a surface though is unkown since we can't see through all that gas.
10. 2015-09-20 at 4:20 PM UTC

    #10
    The Self Taught Man Black Hole

    Actually in fluid dynamics experiments, these patterns have been recreated and it's not even wrong when you say the shape is due to the specific conditions on the planet. Whether it has a surface though is unkown since we can't see through all that gas.

    I get the same way after Cuban food.
11. 2015-09-21 at 1:14 AM UTC

    #11
    

    kroz weak whyte, frothy cuck, and former twink
    saturn is actually flat , nasa are a bunch of illuminati jedibagger shills =) lol jk good thread. I actually have another one for you but I can't think of it now.
12. 2015-09-21 at 1:32 AM UTC

    #12
    

    Sophie Pedophile Tech Support

    saturn is actually flat , nasa are a bunch of illuminati jedibagger shills =) lol jk good thread. I actually have another one for you but I can't think of it now.

    
    Lol ok, i'll do another thread if it's an interesting subject but i'm not planning on becoming your personal encyclopedia.
13. 2015-09-21 at 1:33 AM UTC

    #13
    

    Sophie Pedophile Tech Support
    Oh and thanks button is over there faggot