Saturn's hexagon change in season. These changes were observed by the Cassini spacecraft. One hypothesis, developed at Oxford University, is that the hexagon forms where there is a steep latitudinal gradient in the speed of the atmospheric winds in Saturn's atmosphere. Similar regular shapes were created in the laboratory when a circular tank of liquid was rotated at different speeds at its centre and periphery. The most common shape was six sided, but shapes with three to eight sides were also produced. The shapes form in an area of turbulent flow between the two different rotating fluid bodies with dissimilar speeds. A
Hexagon or circumradius, "R", which equals the side length, "t". The minimal diameter or the diameter of the inscribed circle (separation of parallel sides, flat-to-flat distance, short diagonal or height when resting on a flat base), "d", is twice the minimal radius or inradius, "r". The maxima and minima are related by the same factor: The area of a regular hexagon For any regular polygon, the area can also be expressed in terms of the apothem "a" and the perimeter "p". For the regular hexagon these are given by "a" = "r", and "p"formula_5, so The regular hexagon fills the fraction