This curious photograph seems to show the planet Saturn, whose rings surrounding it constitute a hallmark of this gas giant planet.
However, Saturn is not the planet portrayed, but Uranus.
Uranus also has rings, but they are very faint compared to Saturn’s. In fact, it is very difficult to capture them in visible light, even from a fairly small distance from the planet.
This unusual image of Uranus’s rings was captured in infrared light by the James Webb Space Telescope using its NIRCam camera, which operates in the near-infrared band (the part of the infrared segment of the electromagnetic spectrum that is closest to visible light). ).
The result allows us to contemplate Uranus with the aspect of Saturn.
The James Webb Space Telescope is the result of an international collaboration led by NASA, ESA and CSA, respectively the US, European and Canadian space agencies. (Fountain: NCYT by Amazings)
(Image: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI. Image processing: J. DePasquale (STScI))
