Saturn has appeared with a completely new look in a photo taken by the James Webb Space Telescope and released by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on June 30.
Illustration of the James Webb Telescope in space
In this latest image, Saturn appears dark, but the rings around the gas giant – known as Saturn’s rings – are bright. James Webb took the stunning image with an infrared camera last week. At this wavelength, Saturn is darker than usual because sunlight is absorbed by methane in the atmosphere. However, the planet’s rings are still bright. Saturn’s rings are mostly ice, with a small amount of dust and rocks thrown into space by asteroid and micrometeorite collisions.
In addition, James Webb's camera also took pictures of 3 of the 82 moons orbiting Saturn.
Scientists are excited by the James Webb image, which shows a detailed view of Saturn's atmosphere. They hope to discover new ring structures, as well as any new planets that may be "lurking" there.
“We will conduct in-depth research to see what secrets are waiting to be discovered,” said Matthew Tiscareno, a senior expert at the SETI Institute.
NASA and the European Space Agency launched the James Webb Space Telescope, the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, into space in late 2021. Scientists hope to use the $10 billion device to see the "cosmic dawn" - the moment when stars and galaxies first formed 13.7 billion years ago. James Webb is currently 1.6 million kilometers from Earth.
According to VNA