2023-07-04 18:30:00
NASA has released images of the ringed planet Saturn captured with the James Webb Space Telescope and a near-infrared camera.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has delivered stunning images of the planet Saturn. Using the Webb NIRCam (near-infrared camera), NASA researchers made the first near-infrared observations of the ringed planet on Sunday (June 25), according to the NASA blog.
The telescope is the largest and most powerful telescope ever launched into space.
Im Video: Thousands of kilometers in size: James Webb space telescope finds gigantic cloud of water vapor
Dark Saturn with bright rings
At this infrared wavelength observed by the telescope, Saturn itself appears extremely dim, reads the NASA blog. The reason for this is that the methane gas absorbs almost all of the sunlight falling on the atmosphere.
However, the rings, which consist mainly of rock and ice fragments, remained relatively bright because they did not contain any methane. This resulted in a stunning appearance of the planet on the space telescope.
In addition, the scientists also tested whether the near-infrared camera might record the faint moons around the planet and found that this was also possible. Among other things, the moons “Dione”, “Enceladus” and “Tethys” became visible. The ringed planet has more than 140 known moons.
According to NASA, the scientists were also able to see clear details in the ring system. Further, deeper images of some of the planet’s fainter rings should also help to examine them more closely.
The James Webb Space Telescope
The James Webb Telescope has been in space since December 25, 2021. It is supposed to provide information regarding the origin of the universe. The telescope can see through dust and gas in space.
The special thing regarding the space telescope, however, is that it has the ability to capture infrared light. This is invisible to the human eye. With this method, the researchers might measure light that was created in space billions of years ago.
The telescope is a joint project between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
However, NASA points out that the data associated with the images have not yet gone through the “peer review process” (examination by independent researchers).
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