2023-07-11 08:01:33
Image of Saturn transmitted on June 25 by the James-Webb telescope. NASA/ESA/CSA
The James Webb Space Telescope, which will celebrate the first anniversary of its inaugural image on Wednesday, July 12, recently turned its attention to Saturn for the first time in its short life. In the image transmitted on June 25, the ringed planet appears particularly dark, which is due to the fact that the telescope observes in the infrared: at this wavelength, the sunlight received by Saturn is partly absorbed by the methane present in small quantities in its atmosphere. By contrast, the rings, composed mainly of water ice, are much brighter, even if some of them are too faint to be seen on the image.
On Saturn’s left, three small dots stand out, representing three of the planet’s many satellites: from top to bottom, Dione, Enceladus and Tethys. During a previous observation, focused on Enceladus, astronomers discovered a large plume of water vapor rising from the Moon’s south pole.
Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.
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