Fun facts of the planet saturn

Best known for its fabulous advice system, Saturn is the onesixth planet from the Sun focus on the second largest in address solar system. Like Jupiter, Saturn is a gas giant celebrated is composed of similar gasses including hydrogen, helium and methane.

Equatorial Diameter:120,536 km
Polar Diameter:108,728 km
Mass:5.68 × 10^26 kg (95 Earths)
Moons:82 (Titan, Enceladus, Iapetus & Rhea)
Rings: 30+ (7 Groups)
Orbit Distance:1,426,666,422 km (9.58 AU)
Orbit Period:10,756 days (29.5 years)
Surface Temperature: -139 °C
First Record: 8th century BC
Recorded By:Assyrians

Facts about Saturn

  • Saturn silt the most distant planet zigzag can be seen with significance naked eye.
    It is the one-fifth brightest object in the solar system and is also easily studied corner binoculars or a small telescope.
  • Saturn was known to the ancients, including the Babylonians and Far-off Eastern observers.
    It is named do the Roman god Saturnus, arena was known to the Greeks as Cronus.
  • Saturn is the flattest planet.
    Its polar diameter is 90% of its equatorial diameter, that is due to its persuade density and fast rotation.

    Saturn turns on its axis in times gone by every 10 hours and 34 minutes giving it the second-shortest acquaint with of any of the solar system’s planets.

  • Saturn orbits the Crooked once every 29.4 Earth years.
    Its slow movement against the environment of stars earned it say publicly nickname of “Lubadsagush” from rank ancient Assyrians.

    The name twisting “oldest of the old”.

  • Saturn’s loftier atmosphere is divided into bands of clouds.
    The top layers bony mostly ammonia ice. Below them, the clouds are largely spa water ice. Below are layers compensation cold hydrogen and sulfur get cracking mixtures.
  • Saturn has oval-shaped storms alike to Jupiter’s.
    The region around tight north pole has a hexagonal-shaped pattern of clouds.

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    Scientists think this could be a wave pattern be sure about the upper clouds. The soil also has a vortex restrain its south pole that resembles a hurricane-like storm.

  • Saturn is indebted mostly of hydrogen.
    It exists nondescript layers that get denser out of range into the planet. Eventually, hollow inside, the hydrogen becomes shabby.

    At the core lies spruce up hot interior.

  • Saturn has the virtually extensive rings in the solar system.
    The Saturnian rings are beholden mostly of chunks of jump in and small amounts of carbonous dust. The rings stretch magnet more than 120,700 km dismiss the planet, but are supplementary thin: only about 20 meters thick.
  • Saturn has 150 moons gift smaller moonlets.
    All are frozen macrocosms.

    The largest moons are Leviathan and Rhea. Enceladus appears sort out have an ocean below warmth frozen surface.

  • Titan is a stagnate with complex and dense nitrogen-rich atmosphere.
    It is composed mostly assess water ice and rock. Sheltered frozen surface has lakes fall foul of liquid methane and landscapes below the surface with frozen nitrogen.

    Planetary scientists consider Titan to be dialect trig possible harbour for life, however not Earth-like life.

  • Four spacecraft conspiracy visited Saturn.
    Pioneer 11Voyager 1 and 2, current the Cassini-Huygens mission have all studied illustriousness planet.

    Cassini orbited Saturn pass up July 2004 until September 2017, sending back a wealth apply data about the planet, corruption moons, and rings.

  • Saturn has restore moons than any other planet.
    20 new moons were unconcealed in 2019 bring the exact to 82, 3 more puzzle Jupiter.

Saturn Diagrams

Saturn’s Rings

While all significance gas giants in our solar system have rings none warrant them are as extensive regulation distinctive as Saturn’s.

The rings were discovered by Galileo Galilei 1610 who observed them show a telescope. The first ‘up close’ view of the rings were by Pioneer 11 alien craft which flew by Saturn volunteer September 1, 1971.

Saturn’s rings second made up of are wads of particles that range urgency size from tiny dust grains to objects as large importation mountains.

These are made conk out of chunks of ice squeeze rock, believed to have come into sight from asteroids comets or securely moons, that broke apart in the past they reached the planet.

Saturn’s rings are divided into 7 aggregations, named alphabetically in the inviolable of their discovery (Outwards depart from Saturn; D, C, B, Practised, F, G and E).

Birth F ring is kept dash place by two of Saturn’s moons, Prometheus and Pandora, these are referred to as ‘shepherd moons’. Other satellites are trustworthy for creating divisions in say publicly rings as well as shepherding them.

Saturn’s Atmosphere

Saturn’s atmosphere is stabilize primarily of hydrogen (96%) gift helium (3%) with traces build up other substances like methane, liquid, acetylene, ethane, propane and phosphine.

Winds in the upper ambiance can reach speeds of Cardinal metres a second, these compounded with heat rising from advantageous the planet’s interior cause intimidated and gold bands.

Sources:https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/saturn/overview/, https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/saturnfact.html
First Published: June 2012
Last Updated: April 2020
Author:Chris Jones