The “James Webb” Telescope has been in space since December 25, 2021 to provide information about the formation of the universe. A few days ago, “James Webb” submitted images of the planet Saturn. The space organization Nasa now shows one of the pictures on Instagram and comments on her blog. The space agency points out that the data associated with the images have not yet gone through the peer review process (examination by independent researchers). Nonetheless, the images are fascinating.

James Webb can see through dust and gas in space

The James Webb Space Telescope is that largest and most powerful telescope ever launched into space. This is a joint project of NASA, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the European Space Agency ESA. What makes the telescope special is its ability to capture infrared light, which is invisible to the human eye. This gives scientists the opportunity to measure light that originated in space billions of years ago. “James Webb” can also see through dust and gas in space.

This is exactly how the current images of the planet Saturn were created. For the first time, researchers tested the “NIRCam” (near-infrared camera), which is on board the “James Webb” telescope, on the planet. These images are already fascinating researchersaccording to the space agency’s blog.

Big visual difference between planet and rings

According to the Nasa blog, Saturn appears extremely dark in the new James Webb images because “the methane gas absorbs almost all of the sunlight falling on the atmosphere.” The planet’s rings, on the other hand, are very bright in the images because they contain no methane. This leads to the unusual appearance.

The researchers in charge of the James Webb telescope also tested whether the near-infrared camera NIRCam can also record faint moons around the planet. Saturn has more than 140 known moons. The result: you can.

“James Webb” shows Saturn’s atmosphere with great clarity

The moons Dione, Enceladus and Tethys can be seen in the images. This feature can help scientists get a more complete picture of Saturn’s current system and its past, NASA says.

What also surprises the researchers is the absolute clarity with which James Webb recorded Saturn’s atmosphere. According to NASA, the earlier Cassini spacecraft also observed the atmosphere with great clarity. But this is the first time the planet’s atmosphere has been seen with this clarity at this particular wavelength (3.23 microns). This is unique with the telescope. The researchers suspect that this is just a foretaste of what “James Webb” will show in the years to come.