Hubble’s Brand New Image of Saturn

  • Released Thursday, September 12, 2019
  • Updated Thursday, October 1, 2020 at 11:14AM
  • ID: 13307

This new Hubble Space Telescope view of Saturn, taken in late June of 2019, reveals the giant planet's iconic rings. Saturn’s amber colors come from summer smog-like hazes, produced in photochemical reactions driven by solar ultraviolet radiation. Below the haze lie clouds of ammonia ice crystals, as well as deeper, unseen lower-level clouds of ammonium hydrosulfide and water.

The planet’s banded structure is caused by winds and clouds at different altitudes. Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 observed Saturn on June 20, 2019, as the planet made its closest approach to Earth, at about 845 million miles away.

For more information, visit https://nasa.gov/hubble.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Paul R. Morris (USRA): Lead Producer

Music credits: "Momentum" by Guillaume Bernard [SACEM]; Killer Tracks Production Music

Master version

Horizontal version. This is for use on any YouTube or non-YouTube platform where you want to display the video horizontally.

Square version

This is a square 1:1 version of the video designed for Facebook or any other platform where you want to display a full-length square version of the video.

Vertical version

This vertical version of the episode is for IGTV or Snapchat. The IGTV episode can be pulled into Instagram Stories and the regular Instagram feed.



Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center


Missions

This visualization is related to the following missions:


You may also like...

Loading recommendations...