Webb Space Telescope Completes Photo Album of Solar System’s Gas Giants with Image of Saturn
The Webb Space Telescope, a $10 billion space observatory launched in December 2021, has captured a stunning image of the ringed planet Saturn, completing its comprehensive photo album of our solar system’s gas giants. Equipped with two imagers, the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), Webb has been producing scientific images since July 2022.
While Webb’s primary focus is capturing the earliest light that dates back to several hundred million years after the Big Bang, it has also been providing valuable insights into our immediate stellar neighborhood. The recent image of Saturn marks the telescope’s final stop on its tour of the nearby worlds predominantly composed of helium and hydrogen.
Jupiter was the first planet to be imaged by Webb in August 2022. This was followed by an image of Neptune, including its rings and moons, in September. The telescope then captured a shot of the majestic rings surrounding Uranus, the seventh planet from the Sun.
The image of Saturn, taken on June 25, showcases the planet’s dark appearance due to the absorption of sunlight by its methane-rich atmosphere. However, the planet’s dazzling rings, consisting mostly of ice and rock, remain luminous. The image also reveals the Cassini division, a distinctive gap caused by the gravitational pull of Saturn’s moon Mimas, located between the planet’s A ring and B ring.
Additionally, the image captures three of Saturn’s moons on the left side, namely Dione, Tethys, and Enceladus. In May, Webb previously imaged Enceladus, revealing a remarkable 6,000-mile-long water plume erupting from the icy moon’s surface. Enceladus holds significant scientific interest due to the presence of a subsurface ocean, which is a crucial prerequisite for life as we know it.
In a recent development, data from the Cassini spacecraft, which ended its mission in 2017 by plunging into Saturn’s atmosphere, has unveiled the presence of phosphorus in Enceladus’ water. This discovery further bolsters the possibility of life existing beneath the moon’s icy crust.
However, until a dedicated mission to Enceladus is launched, scientists will rely on the consistent and meticulous observations provided by the Webb Telescope. This remarkable instrument continues to deepen our understanding of the wonders within our solar system.
For additional information and a captivating comparison between early close-ups of the planets and today’s best shots, visit “Then and Now: Our Earliest Close-Ups of the Planets Compared to Today’s Best Shots.”