Planets

Saturn

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter.

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

Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn (that became the namesake of Saturday), equated to the Greek Kronos (the Titan father of Zeus) the Babylonian Ninurta and to the Hindu Shani. Saturn's symbol represents the god's sickle.

The planet Saturn is composed of hydrogen, with small proportions of helium and trace elements. The interior consists of a small core of rock and ice, surrounded by a thick layer of metallic hydrogen and a gaseous outer layer. The outer atmosphere is generally bland in appearance, although long-lived features can appear. Wind speeds on Saturn can reach 1,800 km/h, significantly faster than those on Jupiter. Saturn has a planetary magnetic field intermediate in strength between that of Earth and the more powerful field around Jupiter.

Saturn has a prominent system of rings, consisting mostly of ice particles with a smaller amount of rocky debris and dust. Sixty-one known moons orbit the planet, not counting hundreds of "moonlets" within the rings. Titan, Saturn's largest and the Solar System's second largest moon (after Jupiter's Ganymede), is larger than the planet Mercury and is the only moon in the Solar System to possess a significant atmosphere.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn, http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/compchart.cfm

Standard Features

Average Orbital Distance

1,426,725,400 km

Perihelion

1,349,467,000 km

Aphelion

1,503,983,000 km

Equatorial Radius

60,268 km

Equatorial Circumference

378,675 km

Mass

568,510,000,000,000,000 million tonnes

Density

0.70 g/cm3

Surface Gravity

10.4 m/s2

Rotation Period

0.44401 sidereal days

Orbital Period

29.4 sidereal years

Orbital Inclination

2.484 degrees

Atmosphere

Hydrogen, Helium

Add Comment

Name

Email (will not be published)

Personal Web site/Blog URL

Subject

Comment

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Enter the letters you see in the image.

Click to get a new image.