Australian Amateur Astronomer Contributes to First Discovery of Decagonal Wave at Saturn's South Pole

Discovery by Former Miner Turned Amateur Astronomer

Trevor Barry, a 70-year-old former miner living in the remote NSW city of Broken Hill, has been named co-author in Science Advances journal of a paper addressing the discovery of a decagonal atmospheric wave around Saturn's south pole. Barry has been collecting observational data since the early 2000s from an observatory he built himself in his backyard.

From mid-2024, Barry captured a ripple pattern formed by bright points extending into Saturn's south polar collar region. He transmitted this to Professor Agustín Sánchez-Lavega of Spain, with whom he has collaborated since 2008. The professor informed him that Amy Simon of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center had observed the early stages of structure formation in Hubble Telescope images from 2023.

First Planetary Phenomenon in Solar System

The decagonal atmospheric wave discovered this time is the first large-scale jet pattern observed in Saturn's southern hemisphere. Saturn's north pole has a hexagonal wave discovered by NASA's Voyager spacecraft in 1980-1981, which was the only such structure in the solar system.

After recognizing the significance of this phenomenon, Barry used the data he collected to create polar projection images looking straight down at the south pole. He explained that "only high-quality data captured under very stable atmospheric conditions could reveal this structure."

Amy Simon, a planetary scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, evaluated Barry as "one of NASA's primary Saturn observers." Simon stated that "he provides very meticulous reports and sends high-quality images tracked over time," revealing that consistent data from observers like Barry is essential for filling observational gaps since the Hubble Telescope cannot be used continuously.

Broken Hill Alongside World's Leading Institutions

Barry, who left high school in 10th grade, has received domestic and international astronomy awards, but takes most pride in this paper listing Broken Hill alongside NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and the University of California. He said, "All the other authors are professors or doctors, but there's also Trevor, a Broken Hill miner."

The Broken Hill library is displaying a printed copy of the paper along with Barry's book "Outback Astronomer." The formation principle and permanence of the decagonal wave have not yet been determined, and Barry plans to continue observations.