Re: Why is there a Hexagonal shaped feature on top of Saturn?

On May 26, 7:31 am, TBerk <bayareab...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On May 25, 11:29 am, oriel36 <kelleher.ger...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Who needs a teacher never mind a censure !.,this is a public forum
for
those who have a little bit of experience beyond the school walls,in
some ways,I only started learning about astronomy when formal
education ceased.


Be that as it may I am interested in what others think of the feature,
hence my post.


Nature has a talent for creating hexagonal forms be it quartz
crystals
-

http://geology.about.com/od/minerals/ig/quartzgallery/amethystxtals.htm


basalt columns -


http://www.ee.qub.ac.uk/dsp/mmns2003/picture/giants_causeway.jpg


or these fascinating cloud formations on Saturn -


http://www.attackofthemonkey.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/satu...


All this is grist for the geometric mill,something that you cannot
find in an equational treatment and I feel a return to a geometric
approach for terrestrial and celestial phenomena is needed for a
while rather than just trying to use a non -geometric equational
treatment to determine structural geometry be it astronomical or
terrestrial.The hexagon on Saturn is astonishing when you think about
it insofar as outside the forms and patterns seen on our
geometrically diverse planet there is precious little in the way of
geometry of this type seen on other planetary bodies.


In my own awkward way I am trying to say that geometry is enjoyable
when allied with physical considerations,a playful game of sorts and
that approach has died in many particpants here in this forum.



Nowhere in there was anything about I didn't want to find out for
myself.

I can understand the idea that people post to Usenet (and other
forums) to get a lazy question answered, please don't ascribe that to
me folks.


Lastly, I posted because it was on topic, might uncover something I
didn't know from people who might actually want to talk about it, and
as _part_ of that service of discovery.



Sure,it is badly needed to get this forum going again.With new
imaging
tools and a blizzard of data,there is less need to force novelestic
stuff into the celestial arena and more reason than ever to work
with
geometry,motions ect and allow plenty of room for speculative
approaches.The problem is that it remains all about theoretical
speculation and
it is disconnected from the powerful images before us,what is needed
is more
questions asked at a local level rather than these outdated large
sweeping speculative guesses about the Universe and its evolution.


Some semi-random thoughts I had on the feature include:

- What role might the core of the planet play in its structure?


- Might it be an external cause or initiator that got things started
but was transitory? (After all, the planet has pronounced rings as
well.)


- Interesting that something as large as a Planet and something as
small as a honeycomb both have a hex shape in them.



I agree and I have my own thoughts on the matter.Hope you can get a
conversation going with this fascinating topic and especially the
planetary addition.
.

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