Saturn

THE PLANET 

Saturn is named after the Roman god of agriculture. Its name equated to the Greek Cronus (the Titan father of Zeus), the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani.

Saturn’s nickname is “the jewel of the solar system" because many astronomers consider it the most beautiful planet in the solar system.

A natural color view of Saturn created from images collected by Cassini 

Saturn is a gas giant. Together, with Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune these four planets are sometimes referred to as the Jovian planets, meaning "Jupiter-like".

The American space probe Pioneer 11 was launched on April 6, 1973. In September 1979, it became the first spacecraft to visit Saturn when it passed the planet at a distance of 21,000 kilometres (13,000 mi).

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun in the Solar System.

It is the second largest planet after Jupiter.

The interior of Saturn is probably a core of iron, nickel, silicon and oxygen compounds, surrounded by a deep layer of metallic hydrogen, then a layer of liquid hydrogen and liquid helium and finally, an outer gaseous layer.

Ammonia crystals give the upper atmosphere a pale yellow hue.

Electrical currents within the metallic hydrogen layer is thought to give rise to the planetary magnetic field.

Winds on Saturn can reach 1,118 miles per hour, while the fastest winds on Earth reach only about 250.

A global storm girdles the planet in 2011.

The wind speeds are higher than on Jupiter, but not as high as on Neptune.

THE RINGS

Saturn is best known for its rings which were first seen by Galileo Galilei in 1610 with his telescope.

They are the most massive and conspicuous rings in the Solar System.

The rings extend from 6,630 km to 120,700 km outward from Saturn's equator.

The rings of Saturn (imaged here by Cassini in 2007)

These rings which are only 20 metres thick and 120,700 km wide, are made of ice, rocks and dust.

Saturn's rings are only temporary – over time they will either disperse or be sucked into the planet.

THE MOONS 

Saturn has hundreds of moonlets and at least 82 moons, which orbit the planet; fifty-three are officially named.

The largest moon Titan was discovered on March 25, 1655 by the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens.

Titan is larger than the planet Mercury. It is the second-largest moon in the Solar System and the only one with a thick atmosphere.

Its thick atmosphere is orange due to a dense organonitrogen haze.

Its thick atmosphere is orange due to a dense organonitrogen haze.

Titan in natural color

Titan is the only world in the solar system that has surface liquid in the form of lakes, rivers and oceans.

Ice-encrusted and 310 miles wide, Enceladus is Saturn’s sixth-largest moon and — owing to its underground ocean — one of the most likely places to find extraterrestrial life, says NASA.

It was announced in October 2019 that a team had discovered a haul of 20 new moons orbiting Saturn using the Subaru telescope on Maunakea, Hawaii. This brings the total to 82 overtaking Jupiter who has 79 natural satellites.

FUN SATURN FACTS

In the time it takes Saturn to complete one orbit of the Sun, or one Saturn year, the Earth has orbited 29.6 times, or 29.6 years on Earth.

Although it has only one-eighth the average density of Earth, Saturn is over 95 times more massive.

Saturn's density is lower than water. If you were to place the planet in a big enough bowl of water, it would float.

The rings of Saturn have captured the imagination of writers, artists, and filmmakers for centuries, and have been featured in many works of fiction. They include:

The science fiction novel Ringworld by Larry Niven, which is set on a giant ring-shaped structure around a star, inspired by Saturn's rings.

The film Interstellar, which features a dramatic scene in which the protagonists visit a planet orbiting a black hole, with Saturn and its rings visible in the background.

The video game Destiny, which takes place in a science fiction universe where Saturn's moon Titan has been terraformed and serves as a hub for human civilization.