The James Webb Space Telescope has discovered mysterious “dark beads” and a lopsided star-shaped structure in Saturn’s upper atmosphere above the planet’s famous hexagonal storm at the north pole.

The features, seen with JWST’s Near Infrared Spectrograph, are unlike anything previously observed and remain unexplained.

The dark beads drift in Saturn’s ionosphere, while the star-shaped pattern appears in the stratosphere below, and the two may be connected.

Scientists suggest the beads could result from interactions between Saturn’s magnetosphere and rotating atmosphere, offering clues about energy flows driving the planet’s aurora, Live Science has reported.

Follow-up observations are planned, especially as Saturn reaches equinox and its closest point to Earth, providing ideal conditions to study these unusual structures.