Astronomers have discovered surprising details about Saturn’s atmosphere, using a new image captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
In the image, Saturn itself appears extremely dark due to the near-total absorption of sunlight by methane gas. The rings, however, remain bright, creating the “unusual appearance” of the planet in this photo, according to NASA. Saturn’s moons Dione, Enceladus and Tethys dot the left side, while the Cassini division, Encke gap and rings A, B, C and F are shown on the right side. The Cassini division is the largest of the gaps in Saturn’s ring system.
Differences in the looks of Saturn’s northern and southern poles are normal, according to NASA, as the northern region experiences summertime while the southern hemisphere is exiting winter darkness. But the darker-than-usual appearance of the northern hemisphere could be from “an unknown seasonal process affecting polar aerosols in particular,” NASA says.
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