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Facts about Saturn

Saturn

Saturn's finer cloud patterns were not observed until the Voyager flybys.

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On September 20, 2006, a Cassini probe photograph revealed a previously undiscovered planetary ring, outside the brighter main rings of Saturn and inside the G and E rings.

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Saturn has a very hot interior, reaching 12,000 Kelvin (11,700°C) at the core, and it radiates more energy into space than it receives from the Sun.

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Saturn's usually bland atmosphere occasionally exhibits long-lived ovals and other features common on Jupiter.

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All other Saturnian latitudes have been assigned a rotation period of 10 h 39 min 24 s (810.76°/d), which is System II.

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The 1990 storm was an example of a Great White Spot, a unique but short-lived Saturnian phenomenon with a roughly 30-year periodicity.

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The spokes were not visible when Cassini arrived at Saturn in early 2004.

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Saturn has a prominent system of rings, consisting mostly of ice particles with a smaller amount of rocky debris and dust.

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Until 1980, the structure of the rings of Saturn was explained exclusively as the action of gravitational forces.

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One theory is that this shocking color change is a result of colder temperatures, as the shadows cast by Saturn's rings are blocking out sunlight.

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Saturn's atmosphere exhibits a banded pattern similar to Jupiter's (in fact, the nomenclature is the same), but Saturn's bands are much fainter and are also much wider near the equator.

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An optical aid, such as large binoculars or a telescope, that magnifies at least 20X is required to clearly resolve Saturn's rings for most observers.

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Traditional Chinese and Japanese cultures designated the planet Saturn as the earth star (??).

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Saturn was first visited by Pioneer 11 in September 1979.

image: i.space.com
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Saturn's gravity was used to direct the spacecraft's trajectory towards Uranus.

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Using a telescope that was far superior to those available to Galileo, Huygens observed Saturn and wrote that "It (Saturn) is surrounded by a thin, flat, ring, nowhere touching, inclined to the ecliptic."

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Astronomers using infrared imaging have shown that Saturn has a warm polar vortex, and is the only planet in the solar system known to do so.

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Saturn is known as "Sani" or "Shani" in Hindu astrology.

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Saturn's winds are among the Solar System's fastest; Voyager data indicates peak easterly winds of 500 m/s (1116 mph).

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Recent images from the Cassini spacecraft show that Saturn's northern hemisphere is changing colors.

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Like the O2, this atmosphere is produced by the disintegration of water molecules, though in this case the disintegration is done by energetic ions that bombard water molecules ejected by Saturn's moon Enceladus.

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To the unaided eye, Saturn appears in the night sky as a bright, yellowish star usually varying in magnitude between +1 and 0.

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In 1675, Giovanni Domenico Cassini determined that Saturn's ring was actually composed of multiple smaller rings with gaps between them; the largest of these gaps was later named the Cassini Division.

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On March 10, 2006, NASA reported that the Cassini probe found evidence of liquid water reservoirs that erupt in geysers on Saturn's moon Enceladus.

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Saturn is probably best known for its planetary rings, which make it visually one of the most remarkable objects in the Solar System.

image: chopnews.com
Saturn

In 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope observed an enormous white cloud near Saturn's equator which was not present during the Voyager encounters and in 1994 another, smaller storm was observed.

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Almost a year later, in August 1981, Voyager 2 continued the study of the Saturn system.

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Data from the Cassini space probe indicates that the rings of Saturn possess their own atmosphere, independent of that of the planet itself.

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On July 1, 2004, the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft performed the Saturn Orbit Insertion (SOI) maneuver and entered into orbit around Saturn.

image: wallup.net
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Saturn's most noteworthy moon is Titan, the only moon in the solar system to have a dense atmosphere.

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In 1655, Christiaan Huygens became the first person to suggest that Saturn was surrounded by a ring.

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Most of the extra energy is generated by the Kelvin-Helmholtz mechanism (slow gravitational compression), but this alone may not be sufficient to explain Saturn's heat production.

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Saturn's interior is similar to Jupiter's, having a rocky core at the center, a liquid metallic hydrogen layer above that, and a molecular hydrogen layer above that.

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More close-up images of Saturn's moons were acquired, as well as evidence of changes in the atmosphere and the rings.

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Saturn is an oblate spheroid—that is, it is flattened at the poles and bulges at the equator; its equatorial and polar diameters vary by almost 10 percent (120,536 km vs. 108,728 km).

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Given its unique appearance with rings, Saturn must have inspired astronomers and others to regard it as a miniature Solar System, with objects of various sizes orbiting it.

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The second theory is that the rings were never part of a moon, but are instead left over from the original nebular material that Saturn formed out of.

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Traditionally, most of Saturn's other moons are named after actual Titans of Greek mythology.

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Saturn is the only planet of the Solar System that is less dense than water.

Saturn has four main groups of rings and three fainter, narrower ring groups. These groups are separated by gaps called divisions. Close up views of Saturn's rings by the Voyager spacecrafts, which flew by them in 1980 and 1981, showed that these seven ring groups are made up of thousands of smaller rings.

Four spacecraft have flown by Saturn so far. In 1979, Pioneer 11 became the first spacecraft to fly by and study Saturn up close. Voyager 1 flew by in 1980 and Voyager 2 in 1981. These spacecraft studied many of the moons of Saturn as well.

Here are 10 facts about Saturn, some you may know, and some you probably didn't know.Saturn is the least dense planet in the Solar System. ... Saturn is a flattened ball. ... The first astronomers thought the rings were moons. ... Saturn has only been visited 4 times by spacecraft. ... Saturn has 62 moons.More items...

Titan, the cloudy moon of Saturn, is one of the least hostile places (for humans) in the outer solar system. It has lakes of liquid methane, and even weather. Titan has no water, but some scientists wonder if life based on methane might live on Titan.Mar 12, 2015

Saturn Facts. ... Saturn is the second largest planet and is best known for its fabulous ring system that was first observed in 1610 by the astronomer Galileo Galilei. Like Jupiter, Saturn is a gas giant and is composed of similar gasses including hydrogen, helium and methane.

Saturn's rings are made of billions of pieces of ice, dust and rocks. Some of these particles are as small as a grain of salt, while others are as big as houses.

Saturn's rings probably formed when objects like comets, asteroids, or even moons broke up in orbit around Saturn due to Saturn's very strong gravity. The pieces of these objects kept colliding with each other and broke into even smaller pieces.

Canup proposed that the rings are the icy remnants of a bygone moon. When Saturn and its satellites formed along with the rest of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago, one of Saturn's large moons formed too close to the planet to maintain a stable orbit.Jan 24, 2011

Saturn is the second largest planet and is best known for its fabulous ring system that was first observed in 1610 by the astronomer Galileo Galilei. Like Jupiter, Saturn is a gas giant and is composed of similar gasses including hydrogen, helium and methane.

Here are 10 facts about Saturn, some you may know, and some you probably didn't know.Saturn is the least dense planet in the Solar System. ... Saturn is a flattened ball. ... The first astronomers thought the rings were moons. ... Saturn has only been visited 4 times by spacecraft. ... Saturn has 62 moons.More items...

According to myth, Saturn introduced agriculture to his people by teaching them how to farm the land. Saturn was also the Roman god of time and this is perhaps why the slowest (in orbit around the Sun) of the five bright planets was named after him. In Roman mythology, Saturn was the father of Jupiter.

In Roman mythology, Saturn is the god of agriculture. The associated Greek god, Cronus, was the son of Uranus and Gaia and the father of Zeus (Jupiter). Saturn is the root of the English word "Saturday" (see Appendix 5). Saturn has been known since prehistoric times.

Saturn Facts. ... Saturn is the second largest planet and is best known for its fabulous ring system that was first observed in 1610 by the astronomer Galileo Galilei. Like Jupiter, Saturn is a gas giant and is composed of similar gasses including hydrogen, helium and methane.

Second only in size to Jupiter, Saturn is made mainly of the light gases hydrogen and helium. 764 Earths would fit inside Saturn, but the gas giant weighs only 95 times as much as our rocky world. If you could put all of the planets in a pool of water, Saturn is the only one that would float.

Here are some fun facts about the Ringed Planet. Saturn is huge. It is the second largest planet in our Solar System. Jupiter is the only planet that is bigger.Dec 9, 2007

Saturn definition. In astronomy, the second-largest major planet, sixth from the sun. Saturn was named for the Roman god of agriculture. ... Saturn is the most distant planet plainly visible to the naked eye. (See solar system; see under “Mythology and Folklore.”)

A unique feature of Saturn is that it is the least dense planet in the Solar System. Although Saturn may have a dense, solid core, the large gaseous outer layer of the planet makes its average density a mere 687 kg/m3. As result, Saturn is lighter than water.

The second largest planet in the solar system, Saturn is a "gas giant" composed primarily of hydrogen and helium. But it's best known for the bright, beautiful rings that circle its equator. The rings are made up of countless particles of ice and rock that each orbit Saturn independently.

First, you can't stand on Saturn. ... Second, like the rest of the planet, the atmosphere on Saturn consists of roughly 75% hydrogen and 25% helium, which means there is little to no oxygen…which means there will be little to no breathing. Third, Saturn is a rather windy place.Nov 1, 2013

The density and temperature changes the deeper into the planet you go, but Saturn can't be said to have a solid surface. If you tried to walk on the surface of Saturn, you would fall into the planet, suffering higher temperatures and pressures until you were crushed inside the planet.Jan 23, 2009

Saturn isn't the only planet to have rings, but it definitely has the most beautiful ones. The rings we see are made of groups of tiny ringlets that surround Saturn. They're made of chunks of ice and rock. Like Jupiter, Saturn is mostly a ball of hydrogen and helium.

Saturn is almost entirely hydrogen and helium, but it does have trace amounts of other chemicals, including water. When we look at Saturn, we're actually seeing the upper cloud tops of Saturn's atmosphere. ... For example, Saturn's moon Enceladus is thought to have a mantle rich in water ice, surrounding a silicate core.Jul 3, 2008