Download All About Saturn

All About Saturn
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Saturn is the sixth planet from the sun and one of the largest in our
solar system. Discover some interesting facts about Saturn.
Of all the planets in our solar system, Saturn is the most interesting
and unique. It is one of the biggest planets in size. The yellow planet
with the wide, flat rings is the sixth planet from the sun and sits
between Jupiter and Uranus. Recent exploratory missions to the
planet have revealed many interesting features that will be of interest
to scientists for years to come.
Saturn is the second largest planet behind Jupiter with a fast rotation
and one of the longest orbits around the sun. Saturn orbits the sun
every 29 years. Saturn rotates fairly fast as it orbits the sun,
completing one rotation in 11 hours. Because of its fast rotation, the
poles on Saturn are flat. Earth, by comparison, takes 24 hours to
complete a rotation around its axis and takes one year to rotate
around the sun. Saturn is 75 times larger than Earth. Saturn is also
the least dense of all the planets in the solar system and is less dense
than water that it could even float on top of water!
There are a total of seven rings
orbiting around Saturn. The
three main rings are called the
A, B, and C rings. Saturn's rings
are formed out of smaller
ringlets and are separated by
gaps which are named after the
astronomer who discovered
them. We now know that the
rings consist of ice and dust.
At least 30 moons orbit around
Saturn. Six of Saturn's moons are
as large as Earth's moon. The
furthest moon away from Saturn
is Phoebe at a distance of 12,952
kilometers. The largest moon
orbiting Saturn is called Titan.
Titan has a radius of 2575
kilometers and has the largest
mass of any of Saturn's moons.
The brightest moon is Enceladus, which is also the sixth largest moon
on Saturn and is made almost entirely of ice.
Saturn is a gas giant. The atmosphere of Saturn is made up entirely of
gas. Helium and hydrogen are the main components, and there are
trace amounts of methane and ammonia. Ammonia is responsible for
the yellow color of the Saturn. The colorful clouds fuel storms on
Saturn, and some of these storms can have wind speeds that are
greater than 1100 miles per hour. Every 30 years, a Great White Spot
can be seen on Saturn after our summer. This white spot occurs
because a massive storm is taking place on the planet's surface. The
surface of Saturn is covered in liquid hydrogen and helium. The inner
core consists of solid rock and ice. The average temperature on Saturn
is -218o F. The surface of the planet is very hot, and becomes colder
as you gain altitude into the upper layers of the atmosphere.
Named after the Roman god of agriculture, Saturn has been known
since ancient times. Saturn was first observed by in the seventeenth
century by Galileo, who noted the odd bulges on the sides by
telescope in 1610. It was not until 1659 that Dutch astronomer
Christiaan Huygens figured out that rings circled the planet.
Astronomers later discovered that Saturn was not surrounded by
single giant ring, but by many rings, and this was eventually
confirmed during the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 missions in 1980 and
1981.
Recently, NASA commissioned a
mission to explore the entire
planet of Saturn and return
details regarding Saturn's moon,
rings, gravitational field, and
atmosphere. In 2004, the Cassini
landed on Titan and released a
probe called the Huygens. As the
information becomes available,
more about the exact
composition of Saturn will be known to scientists.
Since the seventeenth century, astronomers have collected quite a bit
of information about Saturn. Yet much about Saturn still remains a
mystery, and many more missions will be needed to give us a
complete picture of this majestic planet.