SATURN
A COLOSSAL PLANET
Nine Earths side by side would almost span Saturn’s diameter. That doesn’t include Saturn’s rings. IN DIM LIGHT Saturn is the sixth planet from our Sun and orbits at a distance of about 886 million miles from the Sun. SHORT DAY, LONG YEAR Saturn takes about 10.7 hours (no one knows precisely) to rotate on its axis once—a Saturn “day”—and 29 Earth years to orbit the Sun. GAS GIANT Saturn is a gas-giant planet and therefore does not have a solid surface like Earth’s. But it might have a solid core somewhere in there. HOT AIR Saturn's atmosphere is made up mostly of hydrogen (H2) and helium (He). MINI SOLAR SYSTEM Saturn has 53 known moons with an additional 29 moons awaiting confirmation of their discovery—that is a total of 82 moons. GLORIOUS RINGS Saturn has the most spectacular ring system, with seven rings and several gaps and divisions between them. But, ALL the outer gas giants have ring systems. |
RARE DESTINATION
Few missions have visited Saturn: Pioneer 11 and Voyagers 1 and 2 flew by; But Cassini orbited Saturn 294 times from 2004 to 2017.
LIFELESS BEHEMOTH
Saturn cannot support life as we know it, but some of Saturn's moons have conditions that might support life.
ADD A DASH OF EARTH
Some of Saturn’s mass came from Earth—the Cassini spacecraft was intentionally crashed into Saturn’s atmosphere in 2017.
Few missions have visited Saturn: Pioneer 11 and Voyagers 1 and 2 flew by; But Cassini orbited Saturn 294 times from 2004 to 2017.
LIFELESS BEHEMOTH
Saturn cannot support life as we know it, but some of Saturn's moons have conditions that might support life.
ADD A DASH OF EARTH
Some of Saturn’s mass came from Earth—the Cassini spacecraft was intentionally crashed into Saturn’s atmosphere in 2017.