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.
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.
