But a recent computer simulation designed by researchers at Harvard may provide some clues about what's forming this unusual marvel.

但哈佛大學的研究人員最近設計的計算機模擬可能會提供一些線索，說明是什麼在形成這個不同尋常的奇蹟。

The high-speed, six-sided jet stream was first discovered in the early 1980's by NASA's Voyager flybys,

高速的六面噴流最早是由美國宇航局的 "旅行者 "號飛行器在1980年初發現的。

but because of the spacecraft's tilted trajectory, these early images showed only a fraction of the hexagon.

但由於航天器傾斜的軌跡，這些早期影像只顯示了六邊形的一部分。

When the Cassini spacecraft arrived at Saturn in 2004 to get a better look,

當2004年卡西尼號宇宙飛船抵達土星時，為了更好地觀察。

the hexagon had crept into winter's shadow.

六角形已經悄悄地進入了冬天的陰影。

But even in the dark, Cassini's thermal camera was able to capture the first full images of the north pole.

但即使在黑暗中，卡西尼號的熱像儀也能捕捉到北極的第一個完整影像。

It showed a nearly stationary feature extending some 100 kilometers below the clouds.

它顯示了一個幾乎靜止的特徵，延伸到雲層下約100公里處。

Initially, scientists speculated that this hexagonal feature might be driven by a nearby storm,

最初，科學家們推測，這個六邊形的特徵可能是由附近的風暴所驅動的。

but images taken by Cassini ruled that explanation out, showing that the storm had disappeared.

但卡西尼號拍攝的圖片排除了這種解釋，顯示風暴已經消失。

By late 2012, Saturn's north pole was no longer in winter,

到2012年底，土星的北極已經不在冬季。

and the sun illuminated the massive vortex at the hexagon's center.

和太陽照亮了六邊形中心的巨大漩渦。

It had an eye about 50 times larger than an average hurricane on Earth

它的眼睛比地球上的普通颶風大50倍左右。

and wind speeds clocking in at 500 kph.

和風速在500公里/小時的時鐘。

That's roughly double the force of Hurricane Katrina.

這大約是卡特里娜颶風的兩倍力量。

How has Saturn been keeping this raging hexagon going for so long?

土星怎麼會讓這個狂暴的六邊形持續了這麼久？

Well, one answer might lie in the atmospheric dynamics of planets.

嗯，一個答案可能在於行星的大氣動力學。

Like Saturn, Earth has polar vortices and jet streams.

和土星一樣，地球也有極地旋渦和噴流。

But Earth's oceans, landmasses, and shallow atmosphere cause drastic temperature changes

但地球上的海洋、地貌和淺層大氣會引起溫度的劇烈變化。

that prevent jet streams from settling into long-lived, symmetrical shapes.

以防止噴流沉降成長壽的對稱形狀。

Saturn, on the other hand, is a giant ball of gas with no solid surface and a far more uniform composition than Earth's.

而土星則是一個巨大的氣體球，沒有固體表面，成分遠比地球均勻。

In those conditions, it's likely that a jet stream could get comfortable and settle in.

在這種情況下，很可能會有一股氣流舒服地安頓下來。

When Cassini ended its mission in 2017,

當卡西尼號在2017年結束任務時。

it collected ultra-close images of the planet's rings and clouds,

它收集了行星環和雲的超近距離影像。

while its mass spectrometer measured the composition of its atmosphere.

而其質譜儀則測量其大氣層的成分。

Using data taken during Cassini's 13-year mission,

使用卡西尼號13年任務期間採集的數據。

researchers from Harvard set out to answer how Saturn's turbulent conditions could give rise to stable, geometric jets.

來自哈佛大學的研究人員著手回答土星的湍流條件如何能產生穩定的幾何噴流。

To find this out, the team built a 3-D computer simulation of Saturn's hexagon to study its behavior.

為了找出這個問題，該團隊建立了一個土星六邊形的三維計算機模擬，以研究其行為。

What they built was something similar to what we see on Saturn.

他們建造的是類似於我們在土星上看到的東西。

Their computer model showed deep thermal convection, with heat transferring between the planet's outer layers —

他們的計算機模型顯示了深層的熱對流，熱量在行星的外層之間傳遞----。

sort of like a boiling pot of water.

有點像一鍋沸騰的水。

This deep convection led to the formation of three large cyclones near Saturn's poles, and an eastward moving jet.

這種深層對流導致了土星兩極附近三個大型氣旋的形成，以及一個東移的噴流。

Working together, the simulated cyclones and the jet combined to create a nine-sided central vortex.

協同工作，模擬氣旋和噴流結合在一起，形成了一個九面的中心渦旋。

While not a hexagon, this simulated geometric feature looked curiously similar to the polar vortex that's found on Saturn.

雖然不是六邊形，但這一模擬的幾何特徵看起來與土星上的極地漩渦非常相似。

It was also found to extend way down into the atmosphere, like thousands of kilometers deep.

還發現它一直延伸到大氣層中，比如數千公里深處。

So, why didn't the simulation generate a hexagon exactly like the one on Saturn?

那麼，為什麼模擬生成的六邊形沒有和土星上的一模一樣呢？

Well, it's hard to account for everything that's going on in the atmosphere

很難說清大氣中發生的所有事情

and this simulation didn't get to run long enough for all the features of the polygon to evolve.

而這個模擬沒有得到足夠長的時間來運行，所有多邊形的特徵都在進化。

The team plans to refine their simulation in hopes of creating a hexagon that's also stable.

該團隊計劃改進他們的模擬，希望能創造出一個同樣穩定的六邊形。

Still, their recent study shows that the convection within Saturn's atmosphere is enough to produce polygonal jets,

不過，他們最近的研究表明，土星大氣層內的對流足以產生多邊形噴流。

which brings us a whole lot closer to solving this 40-year old mystery of how Saturn's hexagon has been able to hang around for so long.

這讓我們更接近於解開這個40年之謎 土星的六邊形為什麼能在這裡停留這麼久。

If you liked this episode, check out this one on Earth's evil twin. Are there any other mysterious space phenomenons you'd like to see us cover?

如果你喜歡這一集，請看這一集關於地球的邪惡雙胞胎。還有什麼其他神祕的太空現象你想看到我們報道嗎？

Let us know down in the comments. Make sure to subscribe to Seeker and thanks for watching.

請在評論中告訴我們下。請務必訂閱《求是》，謝謝觀看。