The strange hexagon shape on Saturn’s north pole, photographed last year (but initially discovered in the 1980s), has drawn quite a bit of interest from various experts in the scientific community, as well as speculation as to what exactly might have caused it. For this, there are many theories, including a sort of standing-wave pattern in the atmosphere, or perhaps even an aurora-like manifestation. Now, after the harsh Saturnian winter has subsided (the last time they celebrated Spring on Saturn was thirty years ago), the best images of the planet’s large hexagon have been made available. Behold the gigantic, geometric storm that has been brewing on the ringed planet’s northern extremity:

ABOVE: Saturn’s peculiar hexagonal weather system, image courtesy of NASA.

In a NASA press release detailing the Cassini Equinox Mission, details were given regarding these most magnificent images:

After waiting years for the sun to illuminate Saturn’s north pole again, cameras aboard NASA’s Cassini spacecraft have captured the most detailed images yet of the intriguing hexagon shape crowning the planet.

The new images of the hexagon, whose shape is the path of a jet stream flowing around the north pole, reveal concentric circles, curlicues, walls and streamers not seen in previous images. Images and the three-frame animation are available here.

The last visible-light images of the entire hexagon were captured by NASA’s Voyager spacecraft nearly 30 years ago, the last time spring began on Saturn. After the sunlight faded, darkness shrouded the north pole for 15 years. Much to the delight and bafflement of Cassini scientists, the location and shape of the hexagon in the latest images match up with what they saw in the Voyager pictures.

“The longevity of the hexagon makes this something special, given that weather on Earth lasts on the order of weeks,” said Kunio Sayanagi, a Cassini imaging team associate at the California Institute of Technology. “It’s a mystery on par with the strange weather conditions that give rise to the long-lived Great Red Spot of Jupiter.”

This phenomenal series of photographs will no doubt continue to help scientists take on a greater understanding of the strange nature of weather systems on other planets, as well as other interesting potential variables worthy of consideration. No doubt, future discoveries will electrify the scientific community.