"These phenomena mimic what Cassini found at Saturn's south pole a number of years ago," the scientists wrote.
Saturn's mysterious northern vortex, a vast hexagon-shaped storm, dominates this photo taken Nov. 27, 2012, by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. This image is a raw and unprocessed view.
CREDIT: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI
CREDIT: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI
Cassini, the first spacecraft to orbit Saturn, was launched in 1997 and arrived at the gas giant in July 2004. The probe has logged more than 3.8 billion miles (6.1 billion kilometers), and made some major discoveries about the Saturn system, including revealing the presence of hydrocarbon lakes on the moon Titan and spewing water geysers on the moon Enceladus.
"Eight and a half years into our history-making expedition around the ringed planet and we are still astounded by the seemingly endless parade of new planetary phenomena," the mission scientists wrote.
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