Hubble Sees Summertime on Saturn

The ringed planet Saturn is seen on a stark black background. The round planet has bands of pale yellow, tan, and brown that appear as stripes across its surface, with the brightest and broadest band around the center of the planet and varying sizes of bands moving up to the top. Encircling the planet is a system of rings which are seen in front of the planet with part of the rings hidden behind the back. The rings also have bands of color ranging from pale blue to white and dusty tan with a few black areas showing gaps between the rings.
July 23, 2020
CreditNASA, ESA, A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center), M.H. Wong (University of California, Berkeley), and the OPAL Team.
Historical DateJuly 23, 2020
Language
  • english

Hubble Space Telescope’s crisp view of Saturn shows multiple banded cloud activity warmed increasingly by direct sunlight. The spectacular ring system remains as mysterious as it is gorgeous. Astronomers still debate intensely if the rings are a relatively new decoration to the gas giant planet, or if they're as old as the solar system itself.