E. M. Molter

JWST measured the infrared spectra of Saturn's rings and several of its small moons (Epimetheus, Pandora, Telesto, and Pallene) as part of Guaranteed Time Observation program 1247. The NIRSpec instrument obtained near‐infrared spectra of the small moons between 0.6 and 5.3 microns, which are all dominated by water‐ice absorption bands. The shapes of the water‐ice bands for these moons suggests that their surfaces contain variable mixes of crystalline and amorphous ice or variable amounts of contaminants and/or sub‐micron ice grains. The near‐infrared spectrum of Saturn's A ring has exceptionally high signal‐to‐noise between 2.7 and 5 microns and is dominated by features due to highly crystalline water ice. The ring spectrum also confirms that the rings possess a 2%–3% deep absorption at 4.13 microns due to deuterated water ice previously seen by the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer onboard the Cassini spacecraft. This spectrum also constrains the fundamental absorption bands of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide and may contain evidence for a weak aliphatic hydrocarbon band. Meanwhile, the MIRI instrument obtained mid‐infrared spectra of the rings between 4.9 and 27.9 microns, where the observed signal is a combination of reflected sunlight and thermal emission. This region shows a strong reflectance peak centered around 9.3 microns that can be attributed to crystalline water ice. Since both the near and mid‐infrared spectra are dominated by highly crystalline water ice, they should provide a useful baseline for interpreting the spectra of other objects in the outer solar system with more complex compositions.

Radio observations of the atmospheres of the giant planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune have provided invaluable constraints on atmospheric dynamics, physics/chemistry, and planet formation theories over the past 70 years. We provide a brief history of these observations, with a focus on recent and state-of-the-art studies. The global circulation patterns, as derived from these data, in combination with observations at UV/visible/near-IR wavelengths and in the thermal infrared, suggest a vertically-stacked pattern of circulation cells in the troposphere, with the top cell similar to the classical picture, overlying cells with the opposite circulation. Data on the planets’ bulk compositions are used to support or disfavor different planet formation scenarios. While heavy element enrichment in the planets favors the core accretion model, we discuss how the observed relative enrichments in volatile species constrain models of the outer proto-planetary disk and ice giant accretion. Radio observations of planets will remain invaluable in the next decades, and we close with some comments on the scientific gain promised by proposed and under-construction radio telescopes.