James Webb Space Telescope - Saturn And Three Moons - Unannotated

Title

James Webb Space Telescope - Saturn And Three Moons - Unannotated

Artist

Eric Glaser

Medium

Photograph - Digital Photography

Description

"Saturn’s Rings Shine in Webb’s Observations of Ringed Planet (Unlabeled)"

Release Date: June 30, 2023

Webb took its first near-infrared look at Saturn on June 25. The planet appears extremely dark at this wavelength, as methane gas in its atmosphere absorbs sunlight, but its rings stay bright!

This image was taken as part of a Webb science program designed to test the telescope’s capacity to detect faint moons around the planet and study its bright rings. Take a closer look here to find details within the planet's ring system, as well as the moons Dione, Enceladus, and Tethys. Saturn’s rings are made up of an array of rocky and icy fragments – the particles range in size from smaller than a grain of sand to a few as large as mountains on Earth.

Note that data shown is from Webb science in progress, which has not yet been through the peer-review process. Learn more: go.nasa.gov/434emTG

Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Matt Tiscareno (SETI Institute), Matt Hedman (University of Idaho), Maryame El Moutamid (Cornell University), Mark Showalter (SETI Institute), Leigh Fletcher (University of Leicester), Heidi Hammel (AURA). Image processing: J. DePasquale (STScI)

Image description: The background is mostly dark. At the center is a dark orange-brown circle, surrounded by several blazing bright, thick, horizontal whiteish rings. This is Saturn and its rings. There are three tiny dots in the image—one to the upper left of the planet, one to the direct left of the planet, and the lower left of the planet. These are three of Saturn’s moons: Dione, Enceladus, and Tethys, respectively. There is a slightly darker tint at the northern and southern poles of the planet. The rings surrounding Saturn are mostly broad, with a few singular narrow gaps between the broader rings. There is an innermost, thicker ring, and next to that is a brighter, wider ring. Traveling farther outward, there is a small dark gap before another thicker ring. In the thicker ring, there is a narrow faint band. There is then an outermost, faintest, thinnest ring.

Additional image editing by Eric Glaser

Uploaded

July 2nd, 2023

Statistics

Viewed 406 Times  -  Last Visitor from Romeo, MI on 04/27/2024 at 1:34 PM

Colors

Embed

Sales Sheet