A blurry image of the Moon taken by NASA’s James Webb Telescope in late 2022 has caused confusion.
As you can see, the blurred photo of the natural satellite of the Solar System looks very similar to the planet Earth.
The image in question has been making the rounds on the internet for the past few days, with many finding it hard to believe that we are actually talking about the Moon. In fact, many begged NASA to “clear the blur so they can see another Earth,” and many joked that there might be an Earth-like planet out there.
No, it’s Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, far away from us, and while there’s no other Earth, NASA has explained that it has some remarkable properties that only it and our planet share in this solar system we call home.
“Titan is unique in the Solar System,” NASA said. It is the only planetary body other than Earth that has rivers, lakes and seas. Instead of water, they are made up of “hydrocarbons,” molecules like ethane and methane.
“The two clouds seen by James Webb confirm long-held predictions that Titan would form clouds in the northern hemisphere when the Sun warms its surface in late summer. Keck observatory observations also detected clouds and confirmed seasonal weather.”
The infrared vision of the James Webb Space Telescope made possible the best possible view of Titan, even if it was incredibly blurry.