7djengo7
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On the north pole of the planet Saturn is this strange and enormous hexagonal feature:
NASA discovered this oddity in the early 1980s.
But what seems extra strange to me is what I found in a mid-19th century astronomy book:
It seems pretty amazing that thousands of years ago the ancients already for some reason associated Saturn with a hexagon, long before modern astronomy technology advancements enabled/prompted the late 20th century discovery of the unique feature of a giant hexagon on the surface of Saturn. Personally, I don't really have any idea of what might reasonably made of the (I think, striking) coincidence, and I figured I'd see if anyone here might have something interesting to say about it. I don't say it is absolutely necessary that the polar hexagon of Saturn be significantly connected with the fact of the hexagon-Saturn association in the minds of the ancients; but at the same time, it seems difficult to imagine that no connection inheres, and that it is merely an insignificant coincidence.
![PIA20513_-_Basking_in_Light.jpg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/PIA20513_-_Basking_in_Light.jpg)
NASA discovered this oddity in the early 1980s.
But what seems extra strange to me is what I found in a mid-19th century astronomy book:
The Jewish and Arabian writers of the middle ages inform us that the Chaldeans gave to each planet a certain symbol denoting its quality; as a hexagon to Saturn, a triangle to Jupiter, a square to the sun, and the like... |
It seems pretty amazing that thousands of years ago the ancients already for some reason associated Saturn with a hexagon, long before modern astronomy technology advancements enabled/prompted the late 20th century discovery of the unique feature of a giant hexagon on the surface of Saturn. Personally, I don't really have any idea of what might reasonably made of the (I think, striking) coincidence, and I figured I'd see if anyone here might have something interesting to say about it. I don't say it is absolutely necessary that the polar hexagon of Saturn be significantly connected with the fact of the hexagon-Saturn association in the minds of the ancients; but at the same time, it seems difficult to imagine that no connection inheres, and that it is merely an insignificant coincidence.