James Webb and Hubble telescopes reveal Saturn’s chaotic atmosphere in the most comprehensive view yet

Saturn may be famous for its rings, but it has long fascinated scientists for other reasons. It’s a restless atmosphere formed by fierce winds, stubborn megastorms, and strange weather patterns that can last for years.

Now, two new views from the James Webb Space Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope are cutting through the ringed planet’s clouds, giving researchers what NASA calls “the most comprehensive view of Saturn to date.” By combining these images, researchers can “slice” Saturn’s atmosphere at different heights.

This pair of observations captures one of Saturn’s strangest landmarks: the famous hexagon at its north pole. Both images show the faint edge of a six-sided jet stream, according to NASA. These photos may be some of the last high-resolution views of the hexagon until the 2040s, when Saturn’s north pole is about to tip into 15 years of winter darkness.

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Studying Saturn’s atmosphere not only allows scientists to understand how planet-sized storms grow and thrive, but also provides further insight into how the planet formed and evolved over billions of years.

Planet seen from two directions

In August 2024, Hubble took visible-light images of Saturn as part of the Outer Planet Atmosphere Legacy Program, a 10-year project to track outer planets annually. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) took its infrared image several months later, in November 2024. These observations, taken 14 weeks apart, showed the ringed planet moving north from summer toward the spring equinox in 2025.

The two telescopes showed a completely different view of Saturn.

Hubble captured Saturn’s pale yellow bands and sparkling white rings, but JWST’s infrared images revealed even more surprising details. Saturn’s rings appear blue in infrared light “because they are made of highly reflective water ice,” NASA representatives said in a statement. Saturn’s poles also glowed a strange gray-green color, emitting light at a wavelength of about 4.3 microns. These emissions could be due to scattering of light from high-altitude aerosols or auroras, NASA suggested. (The telescope recently captured a giant aurora shining over Uranus.)

As Saturn tilts into its southern spring, both space telescopes will continue to monitor Saturn’s atmosphere, possibly revealing more about Saturn’s weather dynamics. Until then, Saturn is hiding some of its most interesting secrets in the clouds.

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