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Saturn (Webb NIRCam Image)

An image of Saturn on the black background of space. Image is labeled Saturn, Webb Infrared Light, November 29, 2024. Saturn has horizontal bands, with bands at the north and south poles appearing darker orange and lightening to tan as they approach the equator. The north and south poles glow a greenish-grey. The rings appear in an icy neon white. White dots, representing several of Saturn’s moons, are labeled Janus, Dione, and Enceladus.

This infrared view of Saturn was captured Nov. 29, 2024, by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Observing the planet in infrared wavelengths allows Webb to reveal details of Saturn’s atmosphere and rings that can’t be seen in visible light. In this view, Saturn’s rings appear exceptionally bright because they are composed largely of highly reflective water-ice particles that efficiently scatter sunlight.

Infrared observations also highlight structure in Saturn’s atmosphere, including broad cloud bands and subtle variations caused by temperature differences, winds, and high-altitude hazes. Webb’s sensitivity to infrared light allows scientists to probe different layers of the atmosphere, helping researchers study how gases, clouds, and aerosols interact across multiple altitudes. These observations provide new insight into the planet’s complex weather patterns and atmospheric dynamics.

Several of Saturn’s moons are visible in this image. Janus appears near the rings to the left of the planet, while Dione is visible below as a bright point of light. On the right side of the image, Enceladus appears near the rings. Enceladus is of particular scientific interest because it harbors a subsurface ocean beneath its icy crust and ejects plumes of water vapor and ice grains into space from fractures near its south pole.

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
    Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.

    These images were created with Webb data from proposal: 9219 (M. Garcia Marin)

  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    NIRCam
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    November 29, 2024
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    F164N, F212N, F430M, F470N
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    Saturn
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Ringed Gas Giant
  • Release Date
    March 25, 2026
  • Science Release
    NASA Webb, Hubble Share Most Comprehensive View of Saturn to Date
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

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An image of Saturn on the black background of space. Image is labeled Saturn, Webb Infrared Light, November 29, 2024. Saturn has horizontal bands, with bands at the north and south poles appearing darker orange and lightening to tan as they approach the equator. The north and south poles glow a greenish-grey. The rings appear in an icy neon white. White dots, representing several of Saturn’s moons, are labeled Janus, Dione, and Enceladus.
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

These images were acquired by the NIRCam instrument on Webb. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to a monochromatic (grayscale) image. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F164N, Cyan: F212N, Green: F430M, Red: F470N

Related Images & Videos

Side-by-side comparison of Saturn observed at different wavelengths and times show how differently it appears in infrared, on the left, versus visible light, on the right. Left image is labeled Saturn, Webb Infrared Light, November 29, 2024. Right image is labeled Saturn, Hubble Visible Light, August 22, 2024.nIn infrared, Saturn has horizontal bands, with bands at the north and south poles appearing darker orange and lightening to tan as they approach the equator. The north and south poles glow a greenish-grey. The rings appear in an icy neon white. White dots, representing several of Saturnu2019s moons, are labeled Janus, Dione, and Enceladus.nIn visible, Saturnu2019s horizontal bands appear pale yellow, with some bands towards the north and south pole having a light blue hue. The rings appear bright white, glowing slightly less than Webbu2019s infrared image. White dots, representing several of Saturnu2019s moons, are labeled Janus, Mimas, and Epimetheus.

Saturn (Webb NIRCam and Hubble WFC3/UVIS)

Complementary views of Saturn from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope show a dynamic planet with atmospheric features, orbiting moons, and bright rings.

An image of Saturn on the black background of space. Image is labeled Saturn, Hubble Visible Light, August 22, 2024. Saturnu2019s horizontal bands appear pale yellow, with some bands towards the north and south pole having a light blue hue. The rings appear bright white, glowing slightly less than Webbu2019s infrared image. White dots, representing several of Saturnu2019s moons, are labeled Janus, Mimas, and Epimetheus. Mimas casts a small dark circular shadow onto Saturnu2019s surface.

Saturn (WFC3/UVIS)

Captured Aug. 22, 2024 by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, this visible-light view of Saturn reveals the planet’s softly banded atmosphere and iconic rings. Several moons are also visible, labeled Janus, Mimas, and Epimetheus.

A wide look at Saturn and several of its moons on the black background of space. Image is labeled Saturn, Webb Infrared Light, November 29, 2024. Saturn has horizontal bands, with bands at the north and south poles appearing darker orange and lightening to tan as they approach the equator. The north and south poles glow a greenish-grey. The rings appear in an icy neon white. White dots, representing several of Saturnu2019s moons, are labeled Titan, Janus, Dione, and Enceladus. Titan is the largest dot, and appears at the far left of the image, some distance away from Saturn and the other moons.

Saturn (Webb NIRCam Wide Image)

A wider view of Saturn from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope shows six of Saturn’s larger moons, including the largest, Titan, at far left.

Two side-by-side images of Saturn, with the left labeled Webb NIRCam, November 29, 2024 and the right labeled Saturn, Hubble WFC3/UVIS, August 22, 2024.nIn each image, Saturn has horizontal banding. Saturn is a darker orange in the NIRCam image, and a paler yellow in the WFC3/UVIS image. The planetu2019s rings are white in both, but glow brighter in the NIRCam image. White dots representing moons are labeled in both images.nAt bottom right of each image are compass arrows indicating the orientation of the image on the sky. The north arrow points to 12 ou2019clock, the east to 9 ou2019clock.nThe scale bar, at the bottom left of each image, reads 65,000 miles/100,000 km/16 arcsec and spans about one-third of each image. Below each image label is a color key showing which filters were used to create the image and which visible-light color is assigned to each filter. NIRCam filters are F164N in blue, F212N in cyan, F430M in green and F470N in red. WFC3/UVIS filters are F395N in blue, F502N in green, and F631N in red.

Saturn (Webb NIRCam and Hubble WFC3/UVIS Compass Image)

These images of Saturn, captured by NASA’s James Webb and Hubble Spaces Telescopes, shows compass arrows, scale bar, and color key for reference.

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Details

Last Updated
Mar 25, 2026
Location
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Contact
Media

Laura Betz
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
laura.e.betz@nasa.gov

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