Why Saturn is dark but its rings are glowing in new photo released by NASA?

US space agency NASA released an equally stunning and curious new photograph of the ringed-planet Saturn on Friday. The new image released by NASA was captured by its James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

In the new look, Saturn is completely dark while its rings have a brilliant glow. The never-seen-before look of Saturn heightened curiosity about the dark gas giant when its rings were lit so bright.

Why Saturn is dark but its rings are glowing in the latest Webb photo?

The viral Saturn image was captured by the JWST last weekend in infrared (IR). The reason why Saturn appears dark at the wavelength is because the sunlight falling on the planet is being almost completely absorbed by methane gas present in its atmosphere. On the other hand, no such absorption is happening in its icy rings, which can be seen glowing brightly.

Wake up, babe. @NASAWebb dropped a new infrared image of Saturn.

On June 25, the space telescope detected the planet’s faint moons and looked at its icy rings. Methane gas in Saturn’s atmosphere absorbs light, so it appears darker here. https://t.co/sRZTFrey38 pic.twitter.com/5Fs5TV8sw4

— NASA (@NASA) June 30, 2023

Why are scientists thrilled about the dark Saturn image?

There is heavy excitement in the scientific community over the new pic of Saturn, which also captures three of the ringed-planet’s many moons. The image captures details of Saturn’s atmosphere which will help us find new ring structures and possibly any planets lurking out there.

“We look forward to digging into the deep exposures to see what discoveries may await,” Matthew Tiscareno, a senior research scientist at the SETI Institute said on the stunning Saturn photograph

(Inputs from PTI)