Planet Saturn
Planet Saturn Facts
  • Saturn is the sixth planet from the sun and the second largest in the solar system.
  • It is a giant ball of gas composed mainly of hydrogen and helium with no solid surface.
  • Saturn is around 10 times bigger than Earth with a diameter of 74,900 miles (120,540 km).
  • It orbits the sun at an average distance of 886 million miles (1.4 billion km).
  • Saturn has seven main separate rings around it which are made from rock and ice particles.
  • Its main rings extend outwards for over 200,000 km, yet their thickness ranges from around only 5 to 15 meters.
  • It is believed Saturn's rings will eventually disperse or be drawn into the planet.
  • Winds in Saturn's upper atmosphere can reach over 1,000 miles (1,600 km) per hour.
  • Saturn has the lowest density of any planet in the solar system, so much so that it would float in water.
Orbit, Atmosphere & Temperature
Saturn's Orbit
Saturn takes almost 30 years to make one complete orbit of the sun and rotates on its own axis every 10 hours 39 minutes compared to 24 hours on Earth, only Jupiter rotates faster.
Saturns' Atmosphere
Saturn's atmosphere is composed of 96.3% hydrogen and 3.25% helium. The remaining half percent is made up of trace
elements of ammonia, acetylene, ethane, phosphine and methane.
Saturn's Temperature
The temperature at the top of Saturn's clouds average
around -175C (-285F). The temperature below the clouds gets considerably hotter. Saturn's core has a temperature of around 11,700C (21,000F).
The Ringed Planet
saturn eclipse of the sun Astonishing image of the Planet Saturn eclipsing the Sun

Close up of Saturn's rings
Close up of Saturn's rings Natural color image of Saturn's rings
Saturn Moons, Name and Life
saturn clouds
Saturn's banded atmosphere

Moons & Origin of Name
Saturn has 62 moons, 25 of which have a diameter of at least 6 miles (10 km), the most interesting of these are Titan and Enceladus.
The Romans named the planet Saturnas after their god of agriculture.

Life on Saturn
Scientists doubt that any form of life could exist on Saturn.

The Rings of Saturn
Saturns Rings
The rings of Saturn are the most spectacular sight in the solar system and have fascinated astronomers for centuries. Science has not yet discovered how they formed but it is believed they are made up of debris from an asteroid or comet colliding with one of Saturn’s moons. They are mostly composed of ice with smaller amounts of dust and other particles.

They were named alphabetically in the order they were discovered and differ in thickness and width. Working outward from the planet the main innermost rings are D,C.B,A and F. The B ring is the biggest and brightest with an estimated thickness of around 10 meters and a width of 16,000 miles (25,000 km). There are also fainter outer rings G and E and the most recently discovered Phoebe ring, which lies 8 million miles (15 million km) from the planet. It is thought to be composed of debris from one of Saturn’s moons, Phoebe.

There are also gaps in the rings, the biggest of which is called the Cassini Division, named after the Italian astronomer Giovanni Cassini, the gap is almost 5 miles (8 km) wide. It was through one of these gaps that the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft had to navigate as it approached Saturn. Scientists at NASA held their breath but fortunately it managed to pass through successfully and continue its mission.

Images and Video
Moons orbiting Saturn
Moons orbiting Saturn
Saturn Rotation
Earth based telescopic view of Saturn
telescopic view of Saturn
Future and Past Missions to Saturn
Cassini-Huygens
cassini-huygens Launch: October 1997
Arrival: July 2004
Agency: NASA/ESA (Europe)
Cassini-Huygens is still in orbit around Saturn as part of its extended mission to study the planet and its moons. The craft sends back new images every day as well as studying the space environment of the Saturnian System.
Voyager 1 and 2
Voyager 2 Launch: August-September 1977
Arrival: August 1980-June 1981
Agency: NASA
Voyager 1 and 2 made successful flybys of Saturn discovering the intricate structure of the ring system as well as sending back new information about its atmosphere and magnetic field. Between them they took around 32,000 images of the planet.
Pioneer 11
Ganymede from Pioneer 10 Launch: April 1973
Arrival: September 1979
Agency: NASA
Made a successful flyby of Saturn studying its magnetic field, atmosphere and sending back pictures of the planet.

Planet Saturn Statistics
Comparison with Earth
Diameter: 74,900 miles (120,540 km)
Average Distance from Sun: 886 million miles (1.4 billion km)
Orbital Period: 29.4 years
Rotation Period: 10.66 hours

Maximum Temperatures: 11,700C (21,000F) (Core)
Minimum Temperatures: -178C (-288F) (Cloud Tops)

Gravity: 10.4 m/s2 (1.06 x Earth's Gravity)
Density: 0.7 g/cm3 (12.7% Earth's Density)
Mass: 5.6851 x 1026 kg (95 x Earth's Mass)
Volume: 8.2713 x 1014 km3 (764 x Earth's Volume)

Atmosphere: 96% Hydrogen, 3% Helium, 0.4% Methane, 0.01% Ammonia, 0.01% Hydrogen deuteride, 0.0007% Ethane.
Diameter: 7,926 miles (12,756 km)
Average Distance from Sun: 93 million miles (150 million km)
Orbital Period: 365.24 days
Rotation Period: 23.934 hours

Maximum Surface Temperatures: 58C (136F)
Minimum Surface Temperatures: -88C (-126F)

Gravity: 9.766 m/s2
Density: 5.515 g/cm3
Mass: 5.9737 x 1024 kg
Volume: 1.0832 x 1012 km3

Atmosphere: 78.08% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.038% carbon dioxide.

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