NASA telescopes team up for clearest view of Saturn ever. See images
New Images from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope show Saturn in unprecedented detail.
Eric Lagatta- The combined observations in visible and infrared light reveal new details about the planet's atmosphere and rings.
- Hubble's images help track seasonal changes, while Webb's infrared vision probes different atmospheric layers.
- Saturn is the second-largest planet in our solar system and is known for its extensive system of rings and moons.
Observations from two of NASA's most prolific space telescopes have revealed Saturn and its iconic rings in unprecedented detail.
The James Webb Space Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope teamed up to capture views of Saturn in both visible and invisible light. The result? What NASA describes as "the most comprehensive view" to date of the ringed gas giant – one of our solar system's largest planets.
The data provided by the sophisticated instruments – with Hubble orbiting Earth and Webb orbiting the sun – have allowed scientists on Earth to peer through the cosmos into Saturn's atmosphere and understand more about how it works.
"Each telescope tells a different part of Saturn’s story," NASA said in a press release March 25, offering "a richer, more layered understanding of the gas giant’s atmosphere.
The telescopes also captured some pretty striking images of Saturn. Here's a look.
What to know about Saturn, 2nd largest planet in solar system
The sixth planet from the sun, Saturn is of course famed for its rings – composed of billions of small chunks of ice and rock coated in cosmic dust.
While four robotic spacecraft have explored Saturn, it wasn't until the Cassini probe arrived in 2004 that our understanding of the gas giant – the second largest in our solar system behind Jupiter – began to take shape. After more than a decade of studying Saturn's complex system of rings and moons in unprecedented detail, Cassini was deliberately plunged into Saturn's atmosphere in 2017, ending its mission.
Saturn's system is also positively teeming with moons. In fact, a whopping 128 of its 274 observed moons were just discovered in March 2025.
The moons range from planet-size Titan to smaller oddities, some of which are strangely shaped like potatoes or ravioli. And at least two of them, Mimas and Enceladus, have recently been in the news as potential harborers of water – a sign that the worlds could be habitable.
NASA telescopes capture 'most comprehensive' views of Saturn yet
The newly released images highlight features from Saturn’s busy atmosphere.
Hubble highlights subtle cloud banding and color variations, while Webb’s infrared vision probes different atmospheric layers, bringing out storms, waves and glowing ring structures in striking detail.
Hubble in visible light and Webb in infrared light, which is not visible to the naked eye.
Both sense sunlight reflected from Saturn’s banded clouds and hazes, but where Hubble reveals subtle color variations across the planet, Webb’s infrared view senses clouds and chemicals at many different depths in the atmosphere, from the deep clouds to the tenuous upper atmosphere.
See new Webb, Hubble photos of Saturn
The Hubble Space Telescope captured an image of Saturn in visible light on Aug. 22, 2024, that NASA said reveals the planet’s bright ring system and information about the chemical makeup of its atmosphere.
Several of Saturn’s larger moons also appear in the image, with Janus visible to the left of the planet along the rings and Mimas seen closer to the disk. Farther right of Saturn is Epimetheus, which shares a similar orbit with Janus.
According to NASA, the new image added to scientists' ability to track Saturn's seasonal changes, storms and shifting atmospheric features.
The James Webb Space Telescope then captured an image of Saturn in infrared light on Nov. 29, 2024, revealing details of Saturn’s atmosphere and rings shrouded from visible light.
Because Saturn's rings are made of water-ice particles that reflect sunlight, Webb's image reveal the feature as "exceptionally bright," NASA said.
Observations in infrared also unveiled Saturn's atmosphere in unprecedented detail, showing distinct cloud patterns known as cloud bands and how temperature fluctuations, winds and other factors can cause subtle variations. Webb's infrared observations lend new insights to scientists about the planet's complex weather patterns and dynamic atmosphere, according to NASA.
Similar to Hubble's image, several of Saturn's moons are visible, including Janus near the rings to the left of the planet, and Dione below. Enceladus also appears near the rings.
What is the Hubble Space Telescope? Hubble observed Saturn for decades
The Hubble Space Telescope reached a milestone in April 2025, when it marked its 35th year of operations since launching in 1990 on the space shuttle Discovery from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
In its time orbiting Earth, Hubble has shaped our understanding of the universe by observing the atmospheric composition of planets around other stars and even discovering dark energy – a mysterious force that causes the universe to expand.
Hubble’s observations of Saturn have for decades helped scientists build a record of its evolving atmosphere.
What is the James Webb Space Telescope?
Now, the James Webb Space Telescope has been able to use its powerful infrared capabilities to bolster that record, "extending what researchers can measure about Saturn’s atmospheric structure and dynamic processes," NASA said.
Named for NASA's second administrator, Webb launched Christmas Day 2021 aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from the European Space Agency's Ariane Space Spaceport in French Guiana.
Webb, which then began its cosmic operations in July 2022, was designed to operate for up to 10 years. But as fortune would have it, the mission team determined the observatory should have enough propellant to allow it to operate in orbit for more than 20 years.
Billed by NASA as "the largest, most powerful and most complex telescope ever launched into space," the Webb telescope far surpasses the abilities of its Hubble predecessor. Orbiting the sun rather than Earth, Webb is outfitted with a gold-coated mirror more than 21 feet in diameter and powerful infrared instruments to observe the cosmos like no instrument before.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected]