Solar System/Saturn

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Natural color photograph of Saturn.

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and is the second largest planet (after Jupiter), with a diameter of 120536 kilometers (9.4 times that of Earth). Saturn is known for its spectacular rings, which can be clearly seen with a home telescope of modest size. Saturn is one of the four gas giants. Even though Saturn is much more massive than Earth, if it had a solid surface and you stood on it you would weigh only 6% more than you do on Earth. This is because you would be standing much farther from the center of the planet than you do on Earth.

Orbit[edit | edit source]

Saturn orbits the Sun in 29.46 Earth-years, with an orbital eccentricity of 0.05 and an average distance from the Sun of 9.54 AU (Earth-Sun distances).

Rotation[edit | edit source]

Saturn rotates prograde (in the direction of its path around the Sun) once every 10 hours 14 minutes, with an axial tilt of 25.33°.

Physical characteristics[edit | edit source]

Saturn is the only planet that is less dense than water—in fact its density is just 0.69 that of water.

Regions[edit | edit source]

Atmosphere[edit | edit source]

Clouds and winds[edit | edit source]

Spots[edit | edit source]

Vortices[edit | edit source]

Internal structure[edit | edit source]

Diagram of Saturn.

Magnetic field[edit | edit source]

Magnetosphere[edit | edit source]

Rings[edit | edit source]

The rings of Saturn.
Rings of Saturn.

The most beautiful planetary system[edit | edit source]

The discovery Of Saturn's rings[edit | edit source]

Composition of the rings[edit | edit source]

The origin of the rings[edit | edit source]

The shepherd satellites[edit | edit source]

"Spokes" or radial formations[edit | edit source]

Satellites[edit | edit source]

Titan[edit | edit source]

Titan is the second largest moon in the solar system and has a diameter over 5% greater than that of the planet Mercury. It is the only planetary moon that has a thick atmosphere made of nitrogen. Titan has lakes made of liquid methane.

By 7.8 billion years in the future, when Sun will become a red giant star, Titan will become habitable.

Mimas[edit | edit source]

Enceladus[edit | edit source]

Tethys[edit | edit source]

Dione[edit | edit source]

Rhea[edit | edit source]

Iapetus[edit | edit source]

Hyperion[edit | edit source]

Phoebe[edit | edit source]