Hubble telescope captures Saturn’s summer and winter

Saturn is truly the lord of the rings and NASA’s latest snapshot from Hubble Space Telescope proves it. The image which was taken on July 4, when the giant planet was 839 million miles from Earth and shows summer, winter and storms.

The photo has captured the summertime in the planet’s Northern hemisphere seen as a reddish haze on top, and the winter in the Southern hemisphere seen as a blue-hue, beneath the rings. Storms can be seen as tiny, knot-like disturbances in the picture.

“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 in Greenbelt, Maryland. The image also shows vividly the ring structure of Saturn.

This image is taken as part of the Outer Planets Atmospheres Legacy (OPAL) project.

“OPAL is helping scientists understand the atmospheric dynamics and evolution of our solar system’s gas giant planets. In Saturn’s case, astronomers continue tracking shifting weather patterns and storms,” NASA said in a statement.

Two of Saturn’s icy moons are clearly visible in this exposure: Mimas at right, and Enceladus at the bottom.