Download Saturn - Rings

Saturn
Student Sample
Cal Poly Pomona
Spring 2010
Saturn - Discovery
• First Discovery was by Galileo
Galilei using a telescope in 1610.
• He thought Saturn’s rings were
ears or two moons.
• A few years later he was confused
when Saturn’s rings disappeared
(seen edge on), because it’s angle
had changed.
•Saturn’s rings were discovered by
Dutch astronomer Christian
Huygens in 1659.
Saturn - Name Meaning
• Saturn’s name comes from
Roman Mythology.
• Equivalent to the Greek
Cronos, the god of farming
and father of Zeus.
• Saturn’s satellites were
named after Titans who were
brothers and sisters of
Saturn.
Saturn - Position
Saturn is the sixth
planet from the Sun
in the solar system.
Saturn - Size & Shape
• Diameter = 74,898 miles (120,536km),
which is 9.4 times the diameter of Earth.
• 764 Earths could fit in Saturn.
• Saturn is the most
flat planet in our
solar system.
• Fast rotation and
gaseous composition.
Saturn - Composition
• Made mostly of hydrogen and helium.
• Contains ammonia, ice of methane,
and water ice.
• High pressure of the interior can
change hydrogen to liquid
hydrogen and then into liquid
metallic hydrogen.
• Rocky and metal core.
Saturn - Atmosphere & Temperature
• 96.3% Molecular Hydrogen (H2)
• 3.25% Helium (He)
• Includes water ice & methane.
• Orange color is from sulfur.
• Upper atmosphere contains nitrogen
& oxygen = Earth smog
• Clouds are made of ammonia
• Mean Temperature = -185 C; -290 F
• More than 100 times colder than Earth.
Saturn - Moons
• Has a large group of moons (about 60)
• Mimas looks like the Death Star.
• Contains mostly icy (balls of ice) or
small moons (large rocks in space).
Saturn - Rings
• Seven rings.
• Discovered by Christian Huygens in 1659.
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Made of ice chunks and some rocks.
Range in size from a fingernail to a car.
Saturn’s rings are only visible through telescope.
Wide Width = 1 million km in diameter.
Very Thin = 1 km thick.
Saturn - Rotation
• Saturn is 9.539 Au from from the Sun.
• 9.5 times the distance of Earth from the Sun.
• Aphelion - where Saturn is furthest from the Sun.
(1,503,000,000 km from the Sun.)
• Perihelion - where Saturn is closest to the Sun.
(1,348,000,000 km from the Sun.)
• A day on Saturn is 10.2 Earth hours.
• A year on Saturn is 29.46 Earth years.
Saturn - Gravity
• Gravity on Saturn is 1.08 times the
gravity on Earth.
• A 100 pound person would weigh 108
pounds on Saturn.
• Saturn is the only planet in our Solar
System that is less dense than water.
• It would float on water.
Saturn - Human Survival
• Humans cannot breathe
Saturn’s atmosphere.
• Saturn is made of gas, so
there is no surface to land on.
• Saturn is also -185 C, more
than 100 times colder than
Earth, which humans cannot
tolerate.
Saturn - References
• http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/
planets/saturn/
• http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/saturn_worldbook.html
• http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0875452.html
• http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/saturn/moons_
and_rings.html
• http://www.universetoday.com/guide-tospace/saturn/discovery-of-saturn/
• http://library.thinkquest.org/J001663F/saturn.htm