NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope have teamed up to capture new views of Saturn, revealing the planet in strikingly different ways. Observing in complementary wavelengths of light, the two space observatories provide scientists with a richer, more layered understanding of the gas giant\u2019s atmosphere.<\/p>\n
Both sense sunlight reflected from Saturn\u2019s banded clouds and hazes, but where Hubble reveals subtle color 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
![\"Side-by-side](\"https:\/\/assets.science.nasa.gov\/dynamicimage\/assets\/science\/missions\/webb\/science\/2026\/03\/STScI-01KJTK6737FT47YSK9RZ4T5YVM.jpg?w=2626&h=1313&fit=clip&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>Complementary views of Saturn from NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope show a dynamic planet with atmospheric features, orbiting moons, and bright rings.<\/p>\n
Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC), Michael Wong (UC Berkeley); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption>
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. Both complement previous observations done by NASA\u2019s Cassini orbiter during its time studying the Saturnian system from 1997 to 2017.<\/p>\n
The Hubble image seen here was captured as part of a more than a decade long monitoring program called OPAL<\/a> (Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy) in August 2024, while the Webb image was captured a few months later using Director\u2019s Discretionary Time<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The newly released images highlight features from Saturn\u2019s busy atmosphere.<\/p>\n In the Webb image, a long-lived jet stream known as the \u201cribbon wave<\/a>\u201d meanders across the northern mid-latitudes, influenced by otherwise undetectable atmospheric waves. Just below that, a small spot represents a lingering remnant from the \u201cGreat Springtime Storm<\/a>\u201d of 2010 to 2012. \u00a0Several other storms dotting the southern hemisphere of Saturn are visible in Webb\u2019s image, as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n Captured Nov. 29, 2024 by NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope, this infrared view of Saturn shows its glowing icy rings and layered atmosphere. Several moons are visible, including Janus, Dione, and Enceladus.<\/p>\n Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption> Captured Aug. 22, 2024 by NASA\u2019s Hubble Space Telescope, this visible-light view of Saturn reveals the planet\u2019s softly banded atmosphere and iconic rings. Several moons are also visible, labeled Janus, Mimas, and Epimetheus.<\/p>\n Image: NASA, ESA, STScI, Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC), Michael Wong (UC Berkeley); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption> 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 Several of the pointed edges of Saturn\u2019s iconic hexagon-shaped jet stream at its north pole<\/a>, discovered by NASA\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n A wider view of Saturn from NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope shows six of Saturn\u2019s larger moons, including the largest, Titan, at far left.<\/p>\n Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption> NASA\u2019s Hubble<\/a> and Webb<\/a> have already explored Saturn\u2019s auroras, provided insights into Jupiter\u2019s<\/a> spectacular auroras also seen with Hubble<\/a>, confirmed the auroras of Uranus<\/a> glimpsed in 2011 by Hubble<\/a>, and detected Neptune\u2019s <\/a>auroras for the first time with Webb.<\/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<\/a> 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<\/a>, are allowing 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 The James Webb Space Telescope is the world\u2019s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).<\/p>\n To learn more about Webb, visit:<\/p>\n https:\/\/nasa.gov\/webb<\/strong><\/a><\/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 NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope and mission operations. Lockheed Martin Space, based in Denver, also supports mission operations at Goddard. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, conducts Hubble science operations for NASA.<\/p>\n To learn more about Hubble, visit:<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/assets.science.nasa.gov\/dynamicimage\/assets\/science\/missions\/webb\/science\/2026\/03\/STScI-01KJTMDAZWZ2WCK5QF477J3279.jpg?w=1312&h=1313&fit=clip&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint\")
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