Webb tracks clouds on Saturn’s moon Titan

These are photos of Saturn’s moon Titan, captured by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam instrument on 4 November 2022. The picture on the left makes use of a filter delicate to Titan’s decrease ambiance. The brilliant spots are distinguished clouds within the northern hemisphere. The picture on the appropriate is a coloration composite picture. Click here for an annotated version of this image.

Titan is the one moon within the Photo voltaic System with a dense ambiance, and it's also the one planetary physique aside from Earth that presently has rivers, lakes, and seas. Not like Earth, nonetheless, the liquid on Titan’s floor consists of hydrocarbons together with methane and ethane, not water. Its ambiance is stuffed with thick haze that obscures seen gentle reflecting off the floor.

Scientists have waited for years to make use of Webb’s infrared imaginative and prescient to review Titan’s ambiance, together with its fascinating climate patterns and gaseous composition, and likewise see by means of the haze to review albedo options (vivid and darkish patches) on the floor. Additional Titan information are anticipated from NIRCam and NIRSpec in addition to the primary information from Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) in Could or June of 2023. The MIRI information will reveal an excellent better a part of Titan’s spectrum, together with some wavelengths which have by no means earlier than been seen. It will give scientists details about the complicated gases in Titan’s ambiance, in addition to essential clues to deciphering why Titan is the one moon within the Photo voltaic System with a dense ambiance.

[Image Description: Side-by-side images of Saturn’s moon Titan, captured by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera on 4 November 2022, with clouds and other features visible. Left image is various shades of red. Right image is shades of white, blue, and brown.]