|
Saturn |
The second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is the most distant of the five planets easily visible to the naked eye, the other four being Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter. 95 times more massive than earth. |
|
Orbital period |
29.4571 yr. 10759.22 d 24491.07 Saturn solar days |
|
Etymology |
Named after the Roman god of agriculture. |
|
Density |
Saturn is the only planet of the Solar System that is less dense than water—about 30% less. Which means the planet will float on water! |
|
Satellites |
62 with formal designations; innumerable additional moonlets. Titan, Saturn's largest and the Solar System's second largest moon, is larger than the planet Mercury and is the only moon in the Solar System to retain a substantial atmosphere. It is the only satellite with hydrocarbon lakes. Saturn's second largest moon, Rhea, may have a tenuous ring system of its own, along with a tenuous atmosphere. |
|
Atmosphere |
The outer atmosphere of Saturn contains 96.3% molecular hydrogen and 3.25% helium by volume. |
|
Planetary rings |
While the other gas giants also have ring systems, Saturn's is the largest and most visible. Saturn has a prominent ring system that consists of nine continuous main rings and three discontinuous arcs, composed mostly of ice particles with a smaller amount of rocky debris and dust. These rings are composed of 93% water ice with traces of tholin impurities and 7% amorphous carbon. |
- Saturn's interior is probably composed of a core of iron, nickel and rock (silicon and oxygen compounds), surrounded by a deep layer of metallic hydrogen, an intermediate layer of liquid hydrogen and liquid helium and an outer gaseous layer.
- The planet exhibits a pale yellow hue due to ammonia crystals in its upper atmosphere.
- Electrical current within the metallic hydrogen layer is thought to give rise to Saturn's planetary magnetic field, which is weaker than Earth's, but has a magnetic moment 580 times that of Earth due to Saturn's larger body radius. Saturn's magnetic field strength is around one-twentieth the strength of Jupiter's.