隨著土星的加入，詹姆斯-韋伯太空望遠鏡（下文稱“JWST”）終于捕捉到了我們太陽系的所有四個巨大世界。

With the addition of Saturn, the James Webb Space Telescope has finally captured all four of our Solar System's giant worlds.

JWST于2023年6月25日對這顆環(huán)狀行星的觀測結果已經(jīng)過清理和處理，讓我們看到了土星光輝燦爛的光環(huán)，在黑暗中閃耀著金色的光芒。

JWST's observations of the ringed planet, taken on 25 June 2023, have been cleaned up and processed, giving us a spectacular view of Saturn's glorious rings, shining golden in the darkness.

相比之下，土星的圓盤在新的圖像中相當暗，缺乏其特有的云帶，看起來是一個相對沒有特征的暗褐色。

By contrast, the disk of Saturn is quite dark in the new image, lacking its characteristic bands of cloud, appearing a relatively featureless dim brown.

這是因為JWST看到宇宙的波長——近紅外和中紅外。這些波長的光通常是人類肉眼看不到的，但它們可以揭示出很多東西。

This is because of the wavelengths in which JWST sees the Universe – near- and mid-infrared. These wavelengths of light are?usually invisible to the naked human eye, but they can reveal a lot.

例如，熱發(fā)射——與熱有關——以紅外波長為主。當你試圖了解一個被厚厚的不透明云層包裹的星球內部發(fā)生了什么時，研究它的溫度是一個有價值的方法。

For example, thermal emission – associated with heat – is dominated by infrared wavelengths. When you're trying to learn about what's going on inside a planet wrapped in thick, opaque clouds, studying its temperature is a valuable way to go about it.

一些元素和化學過程也會發(fā)出紅外光。因此，在我們的視覺所能接受的狹窄范圍之外的波長中看到太陽系的行星，可以告訴我們更多關于它們所發(fā)生的事情。

Some elements and chemical processes emit infrared light, too. So seeing the planets of the Solar System in wavelengths outside the narrow range admitted by our vision can tell us a lot more about what they have going on.

Saturn 土星

正如我們上周所看到的，當我們拍下JWST土星的原始圖像時，觀測涉及的濾光片使行星的光線變暗，同時允許來自星環(huán)和衛(wèi)星的光線明亮地照射。這是為了讓英國萊斯特大學的行星科學家Leigh Fletcher領導的團隊能夠更詳細地研究土星環(huán)和衛(wèi)星。

As we saw last week, when we clapped eyes on the?raw JWST Saturn images, the observations involved filters that dimmed the light of the planet, while allowing light from the rings and moons to shine brightly. This is so a team led by planetary scientist Leigh Fletcher of the University of Leicester in the UK can study the rings and moons of Saturn in more detail.

他們希望能發(fā)現(xiàn)新的星環(huán)結構，甚至有可能發(fā)現(xiàn)圍繞這個氣體巨頭運行的新衛(wèi)星。上面的圖片顯示了土星的三個衛(wèi)星，Dione、Enceladus和Tethys，在行星的左邊。雖然昏暗，但該行星的圓盤也揭示了有關土星季節(jié)性變化的信息。

They hope to identify new ring structures and, potentially, even new moons orbiting the gas giant. The image above shows three of Saturn's moons, Dione, Enceladus, and Tethys, to the left of the planet. Although dim, the disk of the planet also reveals information about Saturn's seasonal changes.

北半球的7年夏季即將結束，但極地地區(qū)卻一片黑暗。一個未知的氣溶膠過程可能是原因。同時，圓盤邊緣的大氣看起來很亮，這可能是甲烷熒光的結果，或者是三氫的光芒，或者兩者都是。進一步的分析可以告訴我們哪一個。

The northern hemisphere is reaching the end of its 7-year summer, but the polar region is dark. An unknown aerosol process could be responsible. Meanwhile, the atmosphere around the edges of the disk appears bright, which could be the result of methane fluorescence, or the glow of trihydrogen, or both. Further analysis could tell us which.

Jupiter 木星

木星是第一個得到JWST處理的巨行星，它的圖像于去年8月發(fā)布——天哪，它們真是令人驚嘆。
Jupiter was the first of the giant planets to get the JWST treatment, with images?dropping in August of last year?– and boy howdy were they stunning.

在這顆行星的動蕩云層和風暴中看到的壯觀細節(jié)也許并不完全令人驚訝，但我們也看到了一些很少見的特征：在木星兩極閃爍的永久極光，在光學波長中是看不到的，以及木星脆弱的星環(huán)。

The spectacular detail seen in the planet's turbulent clouds and storms was perhaps not entirely surprising, but we also got treated to some rarely seen features: the permanent aurorae that shimmer at Jupiter's poles, invisible in optical wavelengths, and Jupiter's tenuous rings.

我們還看到了這顆行星的兩個較小的、鮮為人知的衛(wèi)星，Amalthea和Adrastea，背景是模糊的遙遠的星系。

We also saw two of the planet's smaller, lesser-known moons, Amalthea and Adrastea, with fuzzy blobs of distant galaxies in the background.

Uranus 天王星

天王星也相當遙遠，但它也是一個巨大的怪人。雖然與海王星非常相似，但這兩顆行星的色調略有不同，這也是一個謎，而且天王星也是側向傾斜的，這也是具有挑戰(zhàn)性的解釋。
Uranus is also pretty far away, but it's also a huge weirdo. Although very similar to Neptune, the two planets are slightly different hues,?which is something of a mystery, and Uranus is also tipped sideways,?which is challenging to explain too.

JWST在2023年4月發(fā)布的觀測結果并沒有解決這些難題，但它們已經(jīng)揭示了不可思議的天王星環(huán)系統(tǒng)13個結構中的11個，以及該行星極冠上一個無法解釋的大氣增亮。

JWST's observations,?released in April 2023, aren't solving these conundrums, but they have revealed 11 of the 13 structures of the incredible Uranian ring system, and an unexplained atmospheric brightening over the planet's polar cap.

JWST有很多關于早期宇宙的內容；但它也在為離家近的空間科學開辟道路。隨著它第一年的運行即將結束，我們不禁猜測在未來的幾年里會有什么新的奇跡出現(xiàn)。

JWST has a lot to say about the early Universe; but it's opening up space science close to home, too. As its first year of operations comes to an end, we can't help but speculate what new wonders will be to come in the years ahead.