The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has become synonymous with stunning, full-color images of some of the universe’s most intriguing cosmic landscapes. But, as new images of Saturn reveal, the unprocessed black-and-white images of JWST are simply stunning.
JWST captured new images of the ringed planet between June 24 and 25 as part of a project led by NASA Lee Fletcher, astronomer at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom, to study the planet’s rings, moons and atmospheric composition. This image recently appeared in a telescope unofficial Live stream. However, it doesn’t look as much of a gold-banded orb as you might think—at least, not yet.
These days, his photos are striking – and somewhat oddly – black and white. In some images, Saturn and its rings appear oversaturated with light. This is intentional. The black and white pixels actually represent the detailed count of a number of photons collected by the JWST Near Infrared Camera. Later, scientists will process and color these images into something instantly recognizable. For now, it remains a ghostly, rarely seen image of the planet’s icy rings.
Even though JWST has only been in operation for less than a year, it has revolutionized our understanding of the universe and captured some of its most valuable objects – and some of the most beautiful scientific images ever produced. The telescope, which has three cameras, is designed to see in the infrared spectrum. This makes it possible to capture the light from the oldest stars in the universe thanks to a phenomenon known as redshift.
As light travels, its wavelength extends from the short end of the ultraviolet spectrum to the long end of the infrared end. Therefore, light from the oldest (and most distant) stars in the universe can only be detected in the infrared spectrum with very powerful instruments. But, as new Saturn images show, JWST can also take stunning photos close to home.
Saturn isn’t the first object in our solar system to get an image of JWST. Earlier this year, telescopes also captured incredible images of Uranus, revealing the giant planet’s little-known episodes in stunning detail. And last summer, JWST captured incredibly detailed images of Saturn’s neighbor Jupiter.
2023-06-30 15:52:35
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