Previously unobserved “dark beads” and other distinctive formations have been detected in Saturn’s northern pole atmosphere, leaving astronomers puzzled as they describe the “unexplained” phenomena as having “no analog” within our solar system, as reported in a recently released paper.

The astounding formations were captured by the James Webb Space Telescope’s Near Infrared Spectrograph, which was directed at the characteristic shape in the hexagonal storm at the north pole of the ringed gas giant, according to a paper published on August 28 in Geophysical Research Letters.

Researchers focused on Saturn’s ionosphere, where they recorded both the beads and a potentially related “six-pointed star” configuration created by atmospheric “extending arms,” the paper detailed.

“We have discovered a series of ionospheric dark ‘beads,’ forming across a range of longitude, away from the region with the brightest aurora,” the scientists summarized in the paper.

The paper suggested the beads are “dynamically stable over hour-long timescales” and were likely being formed “as a result of shears between ionospheric winds.”

Further, Saturn’s upper stratosphere has a formation “unlike anything previously known,” the paper stated.

“A dark polar cap appears to be extending arms down into the sub-equatorial region, with spokes reaching out as a six-pointed star. However, two of these six arms are missing, resulting in a strangely asymmetric structure,” the paper read.

The paper’s findings were “completely unexpected and unexplained,” astronomy professor Tom Stallard from Northumbria University said.

“We anticipated seeing emissions in broad bands at the various levels. Instead, we’ve seen fine-scaled patterns of beads and stars that, despite being separated by huge distances in altitude, may somehow be interconnected,” Stallard said in a published statement. 

“And [they] may also be linked to the famous hexagon deeper in Saturn’s clouds. These features were completely unexpected and, at present, are completely unexplained.”

The paper stated that neither the “dark beads” nor the “extending arms” have “any known analog at other planets.”

Despite the uniqueness of Saturn’s feature, the scientists suggested further study of the phenomenon could provide context for Earth’s own thermosphere as well as the “complex interactions within Jupiter and the Ice Giants ionospheres,” the paper stated.