stsci_2021-47d November 18th, 2021
Credit: NASA, ESA, A. Simon (NASA/GSFC),
Hubble’s new look at Saturn on September 12 shows rapid and extreme color changes of the bands in the planet’s northern hemisphere, where it is now early autumn. The bands have varied throughout Hubble observations in both 2019 and 2020. Notably, Saturn’s iconic hexagonal storm, first discovered in 1981 by the Voyager 2 spacecraft, was difficult to distinguish in 2020, but it is again clearly evident in 2021. Hubble’s Saturn image catches the planet following the southern hemisphere’s winter, evident in the lingering blue-ish hue of the south pole.
Provider: Space Telescope Science Institute
Image Source: https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2021/news-2021-047
Curator: STScI, Baltimore, MD, USA
Image Use Policy: http://hubblesite.org/copyright/
Detailed color mapping information coming soon...
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