Transcript Planet Saturn

Our Solar System - Saturn
This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image of the ringed planet Saturn shows a
rare storm that appears as a white arrowhead-shaped feature near the planet's
equator. The storm is generated by an upwelling of warmer air, similar to a
terrestrial thunderhead. The east-west extent of this storm is equal to the
diameter of the Earth (about 7,900 miles).
Our Solar System - Saturn
The best view of Saturn's rings in the ultraviolet indicates there
is more ice toward the outer part of the rings, than in the inner
part, hinting at the origins of the rings and their evolution.
Our Solar System - Saturn
This montage of
images of the
Saturnian system
was prepared from
an assemblage of
images taken by
the Voyager 1
spacecraft during
its Saturn
encounter in
November 1980.
Our Solar System - Saturn
Saturn
Saturn, god of
harvest or time
of reaping (sixth
planet from the
sun).
Our Solar System - Saturn
Discovered By
Date of Discovery
Distance from the Sun
Revolution Period about
the Sun
Equatorial Radius
Equatorial Circumference
Number of Moons
Known by the Ancients
Unknown
885,904,700 Miles
By Comparison: 9.53707 x Earth
29.5 years
37,449 miles
By Comparison: 9.449 x Earth
235,298 miles
31
Our Solar System - Saturn
Saturn is the second largest planet in the solar system, second
to Jupiter. Its color is somewhat yellow. Since it is one of the
planets that are visible with the naked eye, its existence has
been known since prehistoric times so we do not know who
first discovered the planet. However, it is the faintest of the five
visible planets, so it was probably discovered last. The first
person to observe the planet using a telescope was Galileo in
1610. While he was the first person to see the rings, he was
unable to explain what he saw.
Our Solar System - Saturn
Many people like Saturn's rings. Although Saturn isn't the only
planet with rings, it is the only planet famous for them. Almost
every image or drawing of the planet has the rings included.
But few people know much about them or why they are there.
Saturn's rings are made mostly of ice and rock pieces. It looks
like one big band, but is actually many smaller bands
combined. The particles range in size from a couple
centimeters to over a kilometer in size.
The rings are very thin. Although they reach diameters in the
hundred thousands kilometers, they are no more than 1.5 km
thick. So how can such a thin layer of ice pieces be so
beautiful? The ice creates a rainbow effect much like a
sprinkler does in the sun. The Sun's rays are refracted by the
frozen water, giving us a colorful display!
Our Solar System - Saturn
Titan stands in a class
by itself as Saturn's
largest satellite and the
second largest moon in
the solar system (after
Jupiter's Ganymede). It
is even larger than the
planets Mercury and
Pluto. Titan is the only
moon in the solar
system with a significant
atmosphere, thicker
even than Earth's, and
composed largely of
nitrogen, like Earth's.
Our Solar System - Saturn
Titan and Earth, to Scale.