The Hubble Space Telescope recently captured a new image of the planet, which shows its rings in stunningly clear detail. Conventional wisdom is that they are as old as the planet, over four billion years. "You can also see a reddish cast over the planet's northern hemisphere.The red tint might be caused by heating due to increased exposure to sunlight.The heating could, in turn, change the planet's atmospheric circulation or remove ice aerosols from the atmosphere.Another theory suggests increased sunlight in the summer changes the amounts of phytochemicals produced.At the same time, Saturn's barely visible south pole has a blue hue.The rings that orbit Saturn are quite deceptive as they are as little as 330ft (100m) thick.The rings are mostly made up of chunk of ice that range in size from grains to boulders.Saturn boasts seven large rings made up of thousands of smaller ringlets, with clear gaps in between them.NASA said: "Just how and when the rings formed remains one of our solar system's biggest mysteries. Isaias heads toward Florida's coast amid coronavirus fightPelosi calls relief package discussions "productive" but no dealKey impeachment inquiry witness: Nation's values are threatenedDHS official reassigned after office compiled intel on journalistsAirbnb shuts down dozens of NJ properties after large partiesApple Fire in Southern California prompts home evacuationsParts of North Carolina under mandatory evacuation due to hurricaneNationwide salmonella outbreak linked to red onionsBattleground Tracker: Latest polls, state of the race and more5 things to know about CBS News' 2020 Battleground TrackerBattleground Tracker: COVID reshapes presidential race in Sun BeltDNC hopes to reach more voters with new voter file modelNASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of Saturn on July 4, 2020. Hubble captured the image on July 4, when the giant planet was 839 million miles from Earth, according to a statement from NASA released Thursday. Mimas (right) and Enceladus, two of Saturn's 82 moons, are also clearly visible in the image. The Hubble Space Telescope recently snapped one of the most incredible photos of Saturn ever. Hubble found a number of small atmospheric storms. The heat may be affecting circulation or ice in the atmosphere, or the sunlight may be affecting the production of photochemical haze, NASA said. The Hubble photo also captures two of Saturn’s 82 moons. Saturn is largely yellow-brown in color due to the fact that the atmosphere is mostly hydrogen and helium with traces of ammonia, methane, water vapor and hydrocarbons.You can also see Saturn's famous rings in incredible detail.They consist mostly of pieces of ice, but no one really understands how and when they formed.Many scientists believe they are more than 4 billion years old, the same age as Saturn itself, but others say they only came into being a few hundred million years ago, when dinosaurs walked the Earth.In April, Hubble celebrated 30 years in space, during which time its images have contributed to a raft of exciting discoveries.Hubble has enabled astronomers around the world to study black holes, mysterious dark energy, distant galaxies and galactic mergers.It has observed planets outside of our solar system and where they form around stars, star formation and death, and it's even spotted previously unknown moons around Pluto.Not bad for a telescope that was only designed to last 15 years. The latest snapshot from Hubble was taken on July 4 when Saturn was about 839 million miles from Earth. Much like Earth, Saturn has a tilted axis which means it also has seasons.You can also see in the image Saturn's moons Mimas and Enceladus - on the right and the bottom respectively.The photo was taken as part of a mission to study the atmospheric dynamics and evolution of our system's gas giants.In this case, the mission, dubbed OPAL or Outer Planets Atmospheres Legacy is tracking shifting weather patterns in the planet's atmosphere.NASA's Hubble has found a number of small atmospheric storms.These features appear to come and go each year when Hubble makes its yearly observations.NASA said: "The banding in the northern hemisphere remains pronounced as seen in Hubble's 2019 observations, with several bands slightly changing colour from year to year.
Hubble previously imaged Saturn last year, showing off the planet’s rings and some of its icy moons. The Saturn image shows in crisp detail the concentric rings that give the gas giant its iconic look. Yes, this is a real image of Saturn. The Saturn image shows in crisp detail the concentric rings that give the gas giant its iconic look. How and when the rings formed remains a mystery. NASA has previously speculated that Also visible in crisp detail are the planet's famous icy rings. It's summertime on Saturn, and rarely have Earthlings gotten to see such a clear view of it. Sophie Lewis is a social media producer and trending writer for CBS News, focusing on space and climate change.Be in the know. newspaper archive.Saturn images: NASA's Hubble telescope snapped this new portrait of Saturn (Image: NASA, ESA, A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center), M.H. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has beamed back an amazing photo showing summertime on Saturn. Get the latest breaking news delivered straight to your inbox.Copyright © 2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. The Hubble Space Telescope recently captured a new image of the planet, which shows its rings in stunningly clear detail. "It's amazing that even over a few years, we're seeing seasonal changes on Saturn," said lead investigator Amy Simon of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.Look closely at the photo and you'll notice a blue hue at the south pole, which is due to changes in the planet's winter atmosphere.You can also see two of Saturn's moons in the image: Mimas to the right, and Enceladus at the bottom.The image is part of a project named Outer Planets Atmospheres Legacy (OPAL), which aims to improve our understanding of atmospheric dynamics and evolution on gas giant planets such as Saturn and Jupiter.OPAL scientists are looking into weather patterns and storms on Saturn, with various small atmospheric storms noted in this photo.The picture is also sharp enough to show how the color of certain bands changes slightly each year.