If This Photo Of Saturn Was Actually Taken By Hubble, We Would All Soon Be Dead

Every now and then , an unbelievable space mental picture with a small flake of misinformation attached to it endure viral . Today ’s spell is a exposure that supposedly show Saturn , as captured by the Hubble Space Telescope . The only small job is that if this photo was what the caption allege it is , all animation on Earth would likely be wiped out before you could say " well is n’t that pretty " .

Take a look at the image below and if you ca n’t figure out why , look at the position of the Sun . Got it ?

OK , here ’s the explanation .

First off , the image is indeed issued by NASA , but it definitely was not captured by Hubble . The Hubble Space Telescope orbits547 kilometers(340 miles ) above Earth , bewitch photograph just as spectacular as the above persuasion of Saturn , though generally , the best vista it has captured have been of galaxiesbillions of light - year off .

There ’s an sluttish way to differentiate that the above photo was not taken by the Hubble Space Telescope : If the Sun was shown behind Saturn , as it is above , that would mean it was consume from beyond the orbit of Saturn . If Hubble had taken it , that would mean Hubble and the Earth had been jettisoned to an orbit beyond the flatulency giant , which would make capturing views of Saturn somewhat low on the priority leaning , way below " freezing to death in a planet - encompassing die - off " .

The range of a function is actually concept art release by NASA , showing aurora vibrate over Saturn ’s south pole .

" The aurora is red because of emanation from glowing hydrogen , " NASA explicate in a2005 press liberation . " The morning is oval because the glowing gases trace the magnetic field lines that converge , like a narrowing funnel shape , onto the satellite ’s magnetic pole . "

Photos and composite images of Saturn ’s cockcrow have been captured , both by theHubble Space Telescopeand theCassini space investigation . They are just as prominent , with the add incentive that viewing them does n’t imply we ’re currently being yeeted from our eye socket into temperatures that human existence will not survive .