saturn
davene hines
Is saturn terrestrial or jovian
what is the length of years an the planet saturn
what is the length of a day on the planet saturn
A day on Saturn is 10.7 hours, and a year is equivalent to 29 Earth years or 10,832 days. The length of the day is calculated from the planet's rotational speed, while scientists determine the length of a year by observing Saturn's orbit.
how many moon does saturn have
Saturn’s moons have such a variety of environments between them that you’d be forgiven for wanting to spend an entire mission just looking at its satellites. From the orangy, hazy Titan to the icy plumes emanating from Enceladus, studying Saturn’s system gives us plenty of things to think about.
Not only that, the moon discoveries keep on coming. As of April 2014, there are 62 known satellites of Saturn (excluding its spectacular rings, of course).
does the planet has rings an what is it made of?
what is the composition of the atmosphere
Saturn's atmosphere, although similar to Jupiter's, is much less interesting to look at from a distance. But enhanced-colour images (shown above) allow us to study the bands across which run parallel to the equator much like Jupiter's, indicating violent winds.
Saturn is one of the windiest places in the Solar System, and wind speeds have been clocked at a staggering 1800 kilometres per hour at the equator. Occasionally, violent 'white' storms break through the cloud layers, each one bigger than Earth. The last of these was observed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in 1994. Smaller storms occur as darker spots, and have been shown in recent Cassini-Huygens images.
There are three regions in Saturn's troposhere (the part of the atmosphere where 'weather' occurs) where clouds of a particular kind, or 'cloud decks', are to be found.
what is the average temperature range(high and low)
what are 3 distinguishing characteristics of the planet?
The most notable characteristic of Saturn is its large and complex ring system. But Saturn is also a gas giant whose surface is made up of mostly hydrogen. As it sinks deeper into the Saturnian atmosphere, the hydrogen becomes more and more dense until it becomes metallic.
two missions that have explored the planet and the date they launched
Mission Country Launch Date Arrival DateTypeEncounter Characteristics
Pioneer 11USAApril 6, 1973September 1, 1979FlybyTransmitted low-resolution images and other data about Saturn.
Discovered additional rings and moons not previously known
Voyager 1USASeptember 5, 1977November 13, 1980Flyby900 images of Saturn's moons
Major discoveries were the unexpected complexity of the rings and the true nature of Titan's atmosphere.
Voyager 2USAAugust 20, 1977August 26, 1981Flyby1150 images of Saturn's moons
Had a scan platform malfunction, yet virtually all objectives were met.
CassiniUSA, ESA, ItalyOctober 13, 1997July 1, 2004Orbiter/Atmospheric probe12 science experiments will help scientists understand Saturn's moons, rings, atmosphere, and magnetosphere.
Huygens, an atmospheric probe carried aboard Cassini, will parachute through Titan's atmosphere.