Saturn
by Jorge Vega
Saturn the 6th Planet from the Sun
Named after the Roman god Saturn.
One rotation: 10 hours (1 complete spin on its axis)
- One revolution: 29 years (to make 1 complete trip around the sun)
vs
Earth rotation: 24 hours
- Saturn is 1.4 billion km from the Sun.
- Saturn's radius is 36,183 miles that's 9 times that of Earth
Physical Properties of Saturn
- Saturn is one of the gas giants.
- 2nd planet after the asteroid belt
- It is the 2nd largest planet in our Solar System
- Has a ring system with 9 continuous main rings and 3 discontinuous arcs.
- Rings are made of ice particles with smaller amounts of rocky debris and dust
- Exterior made of gas, but has solid core made of nickle, iron, and rock
Saturn's Rings - Wonders of the Solar System - BBC
Saturn's Atmosphere
The outer atmosphere is hydrogen and helium. The upper clouds are made of ammonia crystals.
Saturn's cloud layers look like stripes that go around the planet. The stripes near the equator are wider. The colder bands are known as zones. The gas in the warmer belts fall back toward the planets. Saturn contains more sulfur than Jupiter and this gives it a orange color.
In 1990 Hubble Space Telescope found a white spot near the Saturn's equator.
The winds of Saturn are the 2nd fastest of the Solar System planets. They get up to 500 m/s.
Saturn's cloud layers look like stripes that go around the planet. The stripes near the equator are wider. The colder bands are known as zones. The gas in the warmer belts fall back toward the planets. Saturn contains more sulfur than Jupiter and this gives it a orange color.
In 1990 Hubble Space Telescope found a white spot near the Saturn's equator.
The winds of Saturn are the 2nd fastest of the Solar System planets. They get up to 500 m/s.
Saturn's Moons
- Saturn has 62 moons that orbit it
- 53 are officially named
- Titan is Saturn's largest moon and Solar System's 2nd largest moon.