That's Not A Picture of Our Planet...

[SteyrAUG]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GLfE4MXWUAAfrKa?format=jpg&name=medium

Titan, Saturn’s largest Moon captured by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.

[moonshot]

I'm not sure what that is. Could be anything. JWST was supposed to capture images in infrared. I don't know if it even has a visible light camera. Whatever it is, I think somebody needs to realign the mirrors.

[SteyrAUG]

I'm not sure what that is. Could be anything. JWST was supposed to capture images in infrared. I don't know if it even has a visible light camera. Whatever it is, I think somebody needs to realign the mirrors.

Credits at bottom left of photo.

Also I'd assume you'd know this.

The photos are delivered in black-and-white depictions of those wavelengths of light. Engineers then assigned a visible color to each of the wavelengths of infrared light captured by the telescope and used that information to make the rich, colorful composite images.

[moonshot]

Credits at bottom left of photo.

Also I'd assume you'd know this.

The photos are delivered in black-and-white depictions of those wavelengths of light. Engineers then assigned a visible color to each of the wavelengths of infrared light captured by the telescope and used that information to make the rich, colorful composite images.

I did not know that (or if I did I had forgotten it).

I stand corrected. I did some checking and I found three images of Titan taken by the JWST. None were particularly clear, and just about every image I've seen from the JWST has been crisp and clear (with a few exceptions). The photo you posted looked so out of focus it could be anything. Still, if NASA says it's Titan, who am I to argue.

[SteyrAUG]

I did not know that (or if I did I had forgotten it).

I stand corrected. I did some checking and I found three images of Titan taken by the JWST. None were particularly clear, and just about every image I've seen from the JWST has been crisp and clear (with a few exceptions). The photo you posted looked so out of focus it could be anything. Still, if NASA says it's Titan, who am I to argue.

My guess is that the deep space telescope has problems with "near earth" objects as it was designed to look farther than anything else.

Still a terribly interesting photo.

[titsonritz]

Land ho! All that is needed is H2O and a little air.

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Infared data has been used to create images of Titan for a while.

These from 2018.

Spectacular new photos of Titan show Saturn's moon like never before

By Leah Crane
19 July 2018

https://i.imgur.com/bxNLkJV.png

Saturn’s moon Titan is more than just a fuzzy orange ball. These new images, constructed from 13 years of data from the Cassini spacecraft, are our best pictures of what Titan would look like without its dense, hazy atmosphere.

The atmosphere scatters visible light, making it impossible to see down to the surface, but it lets some wavelengths of infrared light through.

Using infrared detectors allowed Cassini to pierce the veil and peer right down to the frigid moon’s surface, revealing its rolling dunes and oily methane seas.

More here: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2174691-spectacular-new-photos-of-titan-show-saturns-moon-like-never-before/