Conspiracy Theorists should enjoy Saturn pic...

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

03/29/2007 01:04:59 PM · #1

Giant Hexagon found on Saturn

First one to write a book will make a bit of money off of pale-skinned, young men around the world.

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

03/29/2007 01:07:16 PM · #2

I thought about writing about it, but I'm "afraid of the hex" ;-)

ralph

Nikon Z9

03/29/2007 01:15:02 PM · #3

i saw it last night ;)

scalvert

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

03/29/2007 01:20:14 PM · #4

I already finished writing a book on the computer. Unfortunately, it's binhexed.

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

03/29/2007 01:44:24 PM · #5

Hey, that's funky. I didn't know about that.

Just spit-balling here:

-Hexagonal shape on only one pole of Saturn.

-Magnetite is octahedral, but the opposing faces overlain give six edges and vertices.
-Bees make honeycombs which are made of hexagonal cells.
-Shrinkage crack patterns (ie, mud cracks or columnar joints in basalt) typically have a five-sided geometry.
-The geometry of pentagons facilitates covering a spherical shape, imagine a soccer ball.

Discuss amongst yourselves...

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

03/29/2007 02:14:20 PM · #6

I'll cast my vote for a hexagonal convection cell. The hexagonal-shaped cells can persist under conditions where the convection is constrained to a thin layer vertically and is bounded in the horizontal dimension as well. Seems like this condition could well exist in the upper atmosphere of Saturn.

ralph

Nikon Z9

03/29/2007 02:30:12 PM · #7

Geometric whirlpools revealed
Recipe for making symmetrical holes in water is easy.

Jammur

Nikon D300

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

03/29/2007 02:38:41 PM · #8

Originally posted by DrAchoo:

First one to write a book will make a bit of money off of pale-skinned, young men around the world.

I thought that was the aspiration of dermatologists.

Message edited by author 2007-03-29 14:39:11.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

03/29/2007 02:46:55 PM · #9

Originally posted by Strikeslip:

-Shrinkage crack patterns (ie, mud cracks or columnar joints in basalt) typically have a five-sided geometry.
-The geometry of pentagons facilitates covering a spherical shape, imagine a soccer ball.

I thought basalt columns were hexagonal.

A soccer ball is made with a combination of pentagons and hexagons, with a majority of the area made up of the latter. This is basically the same as R. Buckminster Fuller's basic design for geodesic domes.

Message edited by author 2007-03-29 15:30:58.

Phil

Canon EOS-7D

Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) for Canon

03/29/2007 03:25:38 PM · #10

Maybe they've decided to leave us alone and do their own crop circles.

yanko

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Carl Zeiss 50mm ZE f/1.4 Planar T for Canon

03/29/2007 03:32:51 PM · #11

Clearly that's the roof of a military installation. The fact that it's red is not a good sign.

Message edited by author 2007-03-29 15:33:16.

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

03/29/2007 04:01:00 PM · #12

Originally posted by GeneralE:

Originally posted by Strikeslip:
-Shrinkage crack patterns (ie, mud cracks or columnar joints in basalt) typically have a five-sided geometry.
-The geometry of pentagons facilitates covering a spherical shape, imagine a soccer ball.

I thought basalt columns were hexagonal.

A soccer ball is made with a combination of pentagons and hexagons, with a majority of the area made up of the latter. This is basically the same as R. Buckminster Fuller's basic design for geodesic domes.

I could be wrong about basalt columns, I didn't look it up to confirm (lazy me). And I guess I'm also wrong about soccer balls.

Dang, there goes my credibility as a working scientist and four time red ribbon winner! :-(

angelfire

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

03/29/2007 04:46:53 PM · #13

Originally posted by yanko:

Clearly that's the roof of a military installation. The fact that it's red is not a good sign.

Actually Santa does live in the north pole, they've never said OUR north pole! :) That may also explain the red.

DrAchoo

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

03/29/2007 04:51:20 PM · #14

Originally posted by Strikeslip:

From wikipedia:
Because hexagons fit together efficiently with no vacant space (a tessellation), this is the most common pattern that develops. Pentagonal, heptagonal or octagonal joint patterns are also known, but are less common.

Looks like you are both right.

DjFenzl

03/29/2007 05:01:53 PM · #15

clearly this is the work of the dharma initiative!

FireBird

03/29/2007 05:03:40 PM · #16

Originally posted by DrAchoo:

Well, I wasn't going to say anything til Doc broached the subject. My highest scoring challenge was an image of a creature I met in my back yard. She had a message that I thought was so disturbing that I lied and told her I'd passed it to our leader. (Langdon) Here is her image:

Her original message was:

All your base are ours.
Bzzzzz. Bzzzzzz. Bz.zzz.

Jammur

Nikon D300

03/29/2007 05:17:13 PM · #17

I was just wondering, since we are talking about one of the 'gas giant' planets, composed mainly of hydrogen and methane, if the potential existance hexagonal basalt columns merit any consideration as a possible explaination.

Mark

Canon EOS-600D/T3i Rebel

Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

03/29/2007 05:31:23 PM · #18

Originally posted by fir3bird:

Originally posted by DrAchoo:

From wikipedia:
Because hexagons fit together efficiently with no vacant space (a tessellation), this is the most common pattern that develops. Pentagonal, heptagonal or octagonal joint patterns are also known, but are less common.

Looks like you are both right.

Well, I wasn't going to say anything til Doc broached the subject. My highest scoring challenge was an image of a creature I met in my back yard. She had a message that I thought was so disturbing that I lied and told her I'd passed it to our leader. (Langdon) Here is her image:

Her original message was:

All your base are ours.
Bzzzzz. Bzzzzzz. Bz.zzz.

are you sure it wasn't "all your base are belong to us"?

FireBird

03/29/2007 05:41:37 PM · #19

Originally posted by Mark:

are you sure it wasn't "all your base are belong to us"?

I told you it was disturbing!

03/30/2007 07:59:22 AM · #20

Originally posted by Jammur:

The physics of shrinkage crack patterns was the point there, not the material.

DrAchoo

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5

03/30/2007 12:25:47 PM · #21

Originally posted by Strikeslip:

Originally posted by Jammur:
I was just wondering, since we are talking about one of the 'gas giant' planets, composed mainly of hydrogen and methane, if the potential existance hexagonal basalt columns merit any consideration as a possible explaination.

The physics of shrinkage crack patterns was the point there, not the material.

Not to mention that at 25,000 miles across that would be one bigass hunk of basalt...

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

03/30/2007 12:42:39 PM · #22

I think I was 12 or 13 years old when I helped during a university open house in the geology department. The department had a bunch of thin sections of rock brought back from the moon and I helped people look at them with the polarizing microscopes.

Moon trivia I learned that day:

Basalt = the dark-coloured areas on the moon
Anorthosite (mostly) = light-coloured areas on the moon

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

03/30/2007 12:53:13 PM · #23

Originally posted by Strikeslip:

The physics of shrinkage crack patterns was the point there, not the material.

Shrinkage cracking is not a phenomenon normally observed in gases ;-)