Images by Date
Images by Category
Solar System
Stars
Exoplanets
White Dwarfs
Supernovas
Neutron Stars
Black Holes
Milky Way Galaxy
Normal Galaxies
Quasars
Galaxy Clusters
Cosmology/Deep Field
Miscellaneous
Images by Interest
Space Scoop for Kids
4K JPG
Multiwavelength
Sky Map
Constellations
Photo Blog
Top Rated Images
Image Handouts
Desktops
Fits Files
Image Tutorials
Photo Album Tutorial
False Color
Cosmic Distance
Look-Back Time
Scale & Distance
Angular Measurement
Images & Processing
AVM/Metadata
Image Use Policy
Web Shortcuts
Chandra Blog
RSS Feed
Chronicle
Email Newsletter
News & Noteworthy
Image Use Policy
Questions & Answers
Glossary of Terms
Download Guide
Get Adobe Reader
More Information
Solar System
X-ray Astronomy Field Guide
Solar System
Questions and Answers
Solar System
Chandra Images
Solar System
Related Podcasts
Tour: Uranus
Tour: Uranus (2021-03-31)
Download Image

More Information

More Images
Chandra X-ray Image of Saturn
(Credit: NASA/U. Hamburg/J.Ness et al.)

More Releases
Saturn
Saturn
(27 Jun 05)
Saturn
Saturn
(25 May 05)

Related Images
Titan
Titan
(05 Apr 04)
Jupiter
Jupiter
(27 Feb 02)
Mars
Mars
(07 Nov 02)
Saturn:
X-rays from Saturn Pose Puzzles


Saturn
Credit: X-ray: NASA/U. Hamburg/J.Ness et al; Optical: NASA/STScI

Chandra's image of Saturn held some surprises for the observers.First, Saturn's 90 megawatts of X-radiation is concentrated near the equator. This is different from a similar gaseous giant planet, Jupiter, where the most intense X-rays are associated with the strong magnetic field near its poles.

Saturn's X-ray spectrum, or the distribution of its X-rays according to energy, was found to be similar to that of X-rays from the Sun. This indicates that Saturn's X-radiation is due to the reflection of solar X-rays by Saturn's atmosphere. The intensity of these reflected X-rays was unexpectedly strong.

Further observations should help clarify the nature of Saturn's X-radiation, and determine whether Saturn's magnetic polar regions ever flare up in X-rays, as do Jupiter's. The features outside of Saturn's disk in the X-ray image are instrumental artifacts or "noise".

The optical image of Saturn is also due to the reflection of light from the Sun - visible wavelength light in this case - but the optical and X-ray images obviously have dramatic differences. The optical image is much brighter, and shows the beautiful ring structures, which were not detected in X-rays. This is because the Sun emits about a million times more power in visible light than in X-rays, and X-rays reflect much less efficiently from Saturn's atmosphere and rings.

Fast Facts for Saturn:
Credit  X-ray: NASA/U. Hamburg/J.Ness et al; Optical: NASA/STScI
Scale  Image is 42.0 arcsec across.
Category  Solar System
Coordinates (J2000)  RA | Dec
Constellation  null
Observation Dates  April 14-15, 2003
Observation Time  20 hours
Obs. IDs  3725, 4433
Color Code  Energy (Red 0.4 - 0.6 keV; Green 0.6 - 0.8 keV; Blue 0.8 - 1.0 keV)
Instrument  ACIS
References J. Ness et al. 2004 Astronomy & Astrophysics (March 8 issue) also astro-ph/0401270
Distance Estimate  1.2 billion kilometers
Release Date  March 08, 2004