News Planetary Science

New Hubble images reveal a bizarre decagon over Saturn’s south pole

The weird weather pattern didn’t show up in years of observations by NASA’s Cassini mission

A golden colored orb has a very dark center, surrounded by lightening colors as you move outward. It shows a weird weather pattern at Saturn's south pole.

An image captured by the Hubble Space Telescope shows a 10-sided atmospheric wave surrounding Saturn’s south pole, as seen on August 29, 2025.

NASA, ESA, A. Sánchez-Lavega/University of the Basque Country-EHU

By Meghan Bartels

Scientists watching the weather on Saturn have spotted a strange polygon surrounding the planet’s south pole — a feature that would have surprised them less had it appeared years ago, when the planet was under constant surveillance.