The Mystery Of Saturn’s Changing Colors, What Is It?

A strange hexagon at Saturn's North Pole has been a puzzling issue for scientists, and now it seems the area has become even more mysterious. The observation of images obtained between 2012 and 2016 by NASA's Cassini spacecraft shows that the color of the ringed planet's North Pole has changed from blue to gold. The set of images were obtained by Cassini's wide-angle camera.

In Saturn's north polar region, shifting seasons may explain changing colors: https://t.co/g2pQkt0TXC pic.twitter.com/vSUpuxkd8B

— CassiniSaturn (@CassiniSaturn) October 21, 2016

Scientists are investigating the phenomenon, but at the moment there are no clear explanations for it and only theories are being suggested for the color change. One of the reasons forwarded by NASA is that "in particular, the change from a bluish color to a more golden hue may be due to the increased production of photochemical hazes in the atmosphere as the north pole approaches summer solstice in May 2017." The other reasons being suggested as explanations for the change in color include alterations in atmospheric circulation, or seasonally changing patterns of solar heating that can influence the winds in Saturn's Polar Regions.

Incidentally, the hexagon that can be seen on Saturn's North Pole is thought to be a six-sided jet stream, which could be playing the role of a barrier that doesn't let the haze articles produced outside from entering the area. The bizarre geometric formation measures about 32,187 kilometers in width, and rotates at the same approximate rate as the planet itself spins on its axis.

Saturn's hexagon was first discovered in 1988 with the help of images relayed back from NASA's Voyageur spacecraft that flew past the ringed planet during the early 1980s. Later on, with close-up color photos of the churning area taken by Cassini, the area was found to be twice the diameter of Earth. For now, scientists are investigating why the north-polar hexagon region is changing colors, and whether it is due to the effect of the planet's seasons.