Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun. It is best known for its fabulous ring system .It is the second largest planet in our solar system. Like Jupiter, it is also a gas giant and is composed of similar gasses including hydrogen, helium and methane.
Some amazing facts About Saturn:
1.Visible to naked Eye
It is the fifth brightest object(after Sun,Moon,Venus and Jupiter) in the solar system and is also easily studied through binoculars or a small telescope.
2.Year and Day
Saturn spins on its axis very fast. A day on Saturn is 10 hours and 14 minutes, whereas Saturn goes around the Sun very slowly. A year on Saturn is more than 29 Earth years.
3.Rings
Saturn is best known for its fabulous ring system. These beautiful rings are made up of bits of ice, dust and rock.These rings stretch out more than 120,700 km from the planet, but are amazingly thin.Even these rings are further classified (Ring A , Ring B etc).
4.Atmosphere
A layer of ammonia clouds are present in upper atmosphere of Saturn,below them ice clouds are present. Even further below that are layers of sulfur ice and cold hydrogen mixtures.
5.Interior
The interior of Saturn is very hot, reaching temperatures of up to 11,700°C (21,000 °F).
6. Gas Giant
Saturn is made mostly of hydrogen.It means Saturn could float in water.
7. Probe Spacecraft
Only 4 spacecraft sent from Earth have ever visited Saturn, and three of these(Pioneer 11, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2) were just brief flybys.Only Cassini went into orbit around Saturn and captured photographs of the planet and its rings and moons.
8.Moons
Saturn has 62 moons with confirmed orbits, 53 of which have names and only 13 of which have diameters larger than 50 kilometers, as well as dense rings with complex orbital motions of their own.All the moons are frozen. The largest moons are Titan and Rhea. Enceladus appears to have an ocean below its frozen surface.
9. Flattest Planet
Saturn is the flattest of the eight planets with a polar diameter that is 90% of its equatorial diameter.
1.Visible to naked Eye
It is the fifth brightest object(after Sun,Moon,Venus and Jupiter) in the solar system and is also easily studied through binoculars or a small telescope.
2.Year and Day
Saturn spins on its axis very fast. A day on Saturn is 10 hours and 14 minutes, whereas Saturn goes around the Sun very slowly. A year on Saturn is more than 29 Earth years.
3.Rings
Saturn is best known for its fabulous ring system. These beautiful rings are made up of bits of ice, dust and rock.These rings stretch out more than 120,700 km from the planet, but are amazingly thin.Even these rings are further classified (Ring A , Ring B etc).
4.Atmosphere
A layer of ammonia clouds are present in upper atmosphere of Saturn,below them ice clouds are present. Even further below that are layers of sulfur ice and cold hydrogen mixtures.
5.Interior
The interior of Saturn is very hot, reaching temperatures of up to 11,700°C (21,000 °F).
6. Gas Giant
Saturn is made mostly of hydrogen.It means Saturn could float in water.
7. Probe Spacecraft
Only 4 spacecraft sent from Earth have ever visited Saturn, and three of these(Pioneer 11, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2) were just brief flybys.Only Cassini went into orbit around Saturn and captured photographs of the planet and its rings and moons.
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| Cassini-Huygens |
8.Moons
Saturn has 62 moons with confirmed orbits, 53 of which have names and only 13 of which have diameters larger than 50 kilometers, as well as dense rings with complex orbital motions of their own.All the moons are frozen. The largest moons are Titan and Rhea. Enceladus appears to have an ocean below its frozen surface.
9. Flattest Planet
Saturn is the flattest of the eight planets with a polar diameter that is 90% of its equatorial diameter.
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