Saturn's hexagon-shaped polar swirls star in new Cassini images

NASA’s spacecraft currently grazing Saturn’s rings sent back the first images from its new orbits but the rings aren’t even the star of the show. The planet’s swirling north pole is capturing everyone's attention, according to a NASA image release.

Cassini started its first pass of the outer edges of Saturn’s rings on Dec. 2, the beginning of the spacecraft’s final part in its mission.

The new images NASA released Wednesday showed the interesting activity created by Saturn’s jet streams around the north pole.

Each side of the hexagon-shaped stream is about as wide as Earth, according to NASA.

Cassini scientists estimated the eye of the 1,250 miles-wide swirling storm has cloud speeds up to 330 mph.

NASA applied four different light filters to the images of the north pole below.

“Each filter is sensitive to different wavelengths of light and reveals clouds and hazes at different altitudes,” NASA said in the image release. 

The images were taken using Cassini’s wide-angle camera on Dec. 2 and 3 at a distance of 240,000 to 400,000 miles from Saturn, NASA said.

The spacecraft started circling the planet’s poles on Nov. 30 until April, diving down at the outer edge of Saturn’s rings every seven days. Cassini will complete 20 ring-grazing orbits in all by April 22.

The next close ring pass is scheduled for Dec. 11.

Mission controllers got the signal Cassini successfully completed the first close dive of Saturn’s rings on De.5.

"It's taken years of planning, but now that we're finally here, the whole Cassini team is excited to begin studying the data that come from these ring-grazing orbits," Cassini project scientist Linda Spilker said. "This is a remarkable time in what's already been a thrilling journey."

When the mission ends in September 2017, Cassini will execute a close pass above Saturn’s clouds, passing through the rings, before taking a dive into Saturn’s atmosphere.

The joint NASA-European Space Agency mission has been studying Saturn’s system for 12 years.