Magnificent Ringed Planet

     
     The Solar System is made up of all the planets that orbit our Sun. In addition to planets, the Solar System also consists of moons, comets, asteroids, minor planets, and dust and gas.

     Everything in the Solar System orbits or revolves around the Sun. The Sun contains around 98% of all the material in the Solar System. The larger an object is, the more gravity it has. Because the Sun is so large, its powerful gravity attracts all the other objects in the Solar System towards it. At the same time, these objects, which are moving very rapidly, try to fly away from the Sun, outward into the emptiness of outer space. The result of the planets trying to fly away, at the same time that the Sun is trying to pull them inward is that they become trapped half-way in between. Balanced between flying towards the Sun, and escaping into space, they spend eternity orbiting around their parent star.

Planet Saturn

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and is the second largest in the solar system with an equatorial diameter of 119,300 kilometers (74,130 miles). Much of what is known about the planet is due to the Voyager explorations in 1980-1981. Saturn is visibly flattened at the poles, a result of the very fast rotation of the planet on its axis. Its day is 10 hours, 39 minutes long, and it takes 29.5 Earth years to revolve about the Sun. The atmosphere is primarily composed of hydrogen with small amounts of helium and methane. Saturn is the only planet less dense than water (about 30 percent less). In the unlikely event that a large enough ocean could be found, Saturn would float in it. Saturn's hazy yellow hue is marked by broad atmospheric banding similar to, but fainter than, that found on Jupiter.

The Rings

     Saturn is most well-known for its rings. However, it is not the only planet with rings. Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune also have rings. Saturn is a favorite object for many observers. It’s beautiful rings are 169,800 miles wide (approx 273,266 km). But the rings are amazingly thin. If you turned the rings on their side, they would be able to fit between the goal posts on a football field. The rings are split into categories, Ring A, Ring B, Ring C, Ring D, Ring E, Ring F and Ring G, totaling 7 in all. The rings are not solid but rather are made up of particles of ice, dust and rocks. The rings are held in place around Saturn by the moons that also orbit this large planet. The gravity of these moons also cause the gaps that are seen in between the rings.

Moons: 

     Saturn has 53 official moons and 9 provisional (unofficial) moons. The most well-known of Saturn's moons is probably Titan. It is the second largest moon in the Solar System next to Jupiter's Ganymede. Titan is larger than the planet Mercury. Some of the other moons are Atlas, Calypso, Dione, Enceladus, Hyperion, Iapetus, Janus, Mimas, Phoebe, and Tethys.

Saturn Facts

     Saturn is the second largest planet. Only Jupiter is larger. Saturn has seven thin, flat rings around it. A couple of planets have rings, but their rings are much fainter than those around Saturn. Saturn's diameter at its equator is 74,600 miles which is almost ten times that of Earth. The planet can be seen from Earth with the unaided eye, but its rings cannot. Saturn was the farthest planet from the earth that the ancient astronomers knew about. They named Saturn after the Roman God of agriculture.

• A 100 pound object on Earth would weight 116 pounds on Saturn.
• Saturn has the lowest density of all the planets in the solar system. It is so light that it could actually float on water if there was an ocean big enough to hold it.
• It takes about 29.46 Earth years for Saturn to orbit around our sun.
• Saturn's rings are made up of billions of pieces of rocks and dust.
• Saturn has over 30 known Satellites, but many of them are small and faint.
• Saturn has no solid surface. It is a giant ball of gas, but it does have a solid inner core.
• The temperature difference between the poles and the equator is very small on Saturn.
• The atmosphere of Saturn comprises mostly of Hydrogen and Helium.
• Galileo was the first astronomer to observe Saturn's rings...
• He could not see the rings clearly with his small telescope and thought they were large Satellites.
• Titan is the only Saturn Moon with an atmosphere.
• Titan is also larger than the planet Mercury.