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\t\t\t\t\t\t25\/03\/2026<\/span> The NASA\/ESA\/CSA James Webb Space Telescope and the NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have joined forces to capture new views of Saturn, revealing the planet in strikingly different ways. Infrared and visible observations show layers and storms in the ringed planet\u2019s atmosphere.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Observing in complementary wavelengths of light, Webb and Hubble are providing scientists with a richer, more layered understanding of the gas giant\u2019s atmosphere. Both sense sunlight reflected from Saturn\u2019s banded clouds and hazes, but where Hubble reveals subtle colour variations across the planet, Webb\u2019s infrared view senses clouds and chemicals at many different depths in the atmosphere, from the deep clouds to the tenuous upper atmosphere.<\/p>\n Together, scientists can effectively \u2018slice\u2019 through Saturn\u2019s atmosphere at multiple altitudes, like peeling back the layers of an onion. Each telescope tells a different part of Saturn\u2019s story, and the observations together help researchers understand how Saturn\u2019s atmosphere works as a connected three-dimensional system.<\/p>\n The Hubble image seen here was captured as part of a more than a decade long monitoring program called OPAL (Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy) in August 2024, while the Webb image was captured a few months later using Director\u2019s Discretionary Time.<\/p>\n The newly released images highlight features from Saturn\u2019s busy atmosphere.<\/p>\n \nIn the Webb image, a long-lived jet stream known as the \u2018ribbon wave\u2019 meanders across the northern mid-latitudes, influenced by otherwise undetectable atmospheric waves. Just below that, a small spot represents a lingering remnant from the \u2018Great Springtime Storm\u2019 of 2011 to 2012. Several other storms dotting the southern hemisphere of Saturn are visible in Webb\u2019s image, as well. Several of the pointed edges of Saturn\u2019s iconic hexagon-shaped jet stream at its north pole, discovered by the Voyager spacecraft in 1981, are also faintly visible in both images. It remains one of the Solar System\u2019s most intriguing weather patterns. Its persistence over decades highlights the stability of certain large-scale atmospheric processes on giant planets. These are likely the last high-resolution looks we\u2019ll see of the famous hexagon until the 2040\u2019s, as the northern pole enters winter and will shift into darkness for 15 years.<\/p>\n In Webb\u2019s infrared observations, Saturn\u2019s poles appear distinctly grey-green, indicating light emitting at wavelengths around 4.3 microns. This distinct feature could come from a layer of high-altitude aerosols in Saturn\u2019s atmosphere that scatters light differently at those latitudes. Another possible explanation is auroral activity, as charged molecules interacting with the planet\u2019s magnetic field can produce glowing emissions near the poles.<\/p>\n Hubble\u00a0and\u00a0Webb\u00a0have already explored Saturn\u2019s auroras, provided insights into\u00a0Jupiter\u2019s\u00a0spectacular auroras also seen with\u00a0Hubble, confirmed the auroras of\u00a0Uranus\u00a0glimpsed in 2011 by\u00a0Hubble, and detected Neptune\u2019s auroras for the first time with\u00a0Webb.<\/p>\n In Webb\u2019s infrared image, the rings are extremely bright because they are made of highly reflective water ice. In both images, we\u2019re seeing the sunlit face of the rings, a little less so in the Hubble image, hence the shadows visible underneath on the planet.<\/p>\n There are also subtle ring features such as spokes and structure in the B ring (the thick central region of the rings) that appear differently between the two observatories. The F ring, the outermost ring, looks thin and crisp in the Webb image, while it only slightly glows in the Hubble image.<\/p>\n Saturn\u2019s orbit around the Sun, combined with the position of Earth in its annual orbit, determines our changing viewing angle of Saturn\u2019s face and ring.<\/p>\n These 2024 observations, taken 14 weeks apart, show the planet moving from northern summer toward the 2025 equinox. As Saturn transitions into southern spring, and later southern summer in the 2030\u2019s, Hubble and Webb will have progressively better views of that hemisphere.<\/p>\n Hubble\u2019s observations of Saturn for decades have built a record of its evolving atmosphere. Programs like OPAL, with its annual monitoring, have allowed scientists to track storms, banding patterns, and seasonal shifts over time. Webb now adds powerful infrared capabilities to this ongoing record, extending what researchers can measure about Saturn\u2019s atmospheric structure and dynamic processes.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n More information<\/b><\/p>\n Webb\u00a0is the largest, most powerful telescope ever launched into space. Under an international collaboration agreement, ESA provided the telescope\u2019s launch service, using the Ariane 5 launch vehicle. Working with partners, ESA was responsible for the development and qualification of Ariane 5 adaptations for the Webb mission and for the procurement of the launch service by Arianespace. ESA also provided the workhorse spectrograph\u00a0NIRSpec\u00a0and 50% of the mid-infrared instrument\u00a0MIRI, which was designed and built by a consortium of nationally funded European Institutes (The MIRI European Consortium) in partnership with JPL and the University of Arizona.<\/p>\n Webb is an international partnership between NASA, ESA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).<\/p>\n The Hubble Space Telescope has been operating for over three decades and continues to make ground-breaking discoveries that shape our fundamental understanding of the Universe. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.<\/p>\n Release on NASA website<\/p>\n Release on esawebb.org<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \nContact:<\/b>
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All these features are shaped by powerful winds and waves beneath the visible cloud deck, making Saturn a natural laboratory for studying fluid dynamics under extreme conditions.<\/p>\n
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