S a t u rnThe Ringed Planet

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter.

Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus (the Titan father of Zeus), the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani.

STATISTICS FOR SATURN

DiameterKnown Natural

SatellitesMean Distance from

the SunRotational Period

Orbital PeriodOrbital EccentricityOrbital InclinationInclination of Axis

Mean Cloud Temperature

Main Atmospheric Component

Atmospheric PressureAtmospheric Depth

Apparent Magnitude

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74,565 miles (120,536 km)62884,740,000 miles (1,429,400,000 km)10.25 days29.46 years0.0562.488 degrees26.73 degrees-193° F (-125° C)Hydrogen1.4 bars90 miles (145 km)0.67

Physical Characteristics

Saturn is the only planet of the Solar System that is less dense than water (about 30% less).

Saturn is an oblate spheroid (like earth).

Hubble high-resolution photo of the planet Saturn

Internal Structure

• It is thought that its interior is similar to that of Jupiter, having a small rocky core surrounded mostly by hydrogen and helium.

• The core region is estimated to be about 9–22 times the mass of the Earth.

• Saturn has a very hot interior, reaching 11,700 °C at the core and it radiates 2.5 times more energy into space than it receives from the Sun.

The vertical structure of Saturn’s atmosphere contains several cloud layers, like Jupiter, but Saturn’s weaker gravity results in thicker layers and a more uniform appearance.

Atmosphere

Orbit And Rotation

Average Distance From

The Sun

1,400,000,000 Km (9 AU).

Average Orbital Speed

One Revolution Around The Sun

10,759 Earth Days (29½ Years)

9.69 Km/S

Saturn’s Moons1. Mimas 2. Enceladus 3. Tethys 4. Dione 5. Rhea 6. Titan 7. Hyperion 8. Iapetus 9. Erriapus 10. Phoebe 11. Janus 12. Epimetheus 13. Helene 14. Telesto 15. Calypso 16. Kiviuq 17. Atlas 18. Prometheus

19. Pandora 20. Pan 21. Ymir 22. Paaliaq 23. Tarvos 24. Ijiraq 25. Suttungr 26. Mundilfari 27. Albiorix 28. Skathi 29. Siarnaq 30. Thrymr 31. Narvi 32. Methone 33. Pallene 34. Polydeuces 35. Daphnis 36. Aegir 37. Bebhionn

38. Bergelmir 39. Bestla 40. Farbauti 41. Fenrir 42. Fornjot 43. Hati 44. Hyrrokkin 45. Kari 46. Loge 47. Skoll 48. Surtur 49. Greip 50. Jarnsaxa 51. Tarqeq 52. Anthe 53. Aegaeon

1. S/2004 S7 2. S/2004 S12 3. S/2004 S13 4. S/2004 S17 5. S/2006 S1 6. S/2006 S3 7. S/2007 S2 8. S/2007 S3 9. S/2009 S1

Natural Moons

Provisional Moons

Titan has an atmosphere. This can be seen faintly in the image on the left as an outline, and more clearly in the following image

150 km(3,200miles)

across

Titan-The Second Largest in the

Solar System

A little larger than the planet Mercury, Saturn's largest moon, Titan, has a significant nitrogen atmosphere but is cold enough for lakes of liquid methane.

The rings of Saturn have puzzled astronomers since Galileo Galilei discovered them with his telescope in 1610. Detailed study by the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft in the 1980s only increased the mystery.

Cassini close-up image of Saturn

and its many rings

TheRingedPlanet

• Other particles (10’s to 100’s of meters) are too tiny to see, but create propeller-shaped objects in the rings that let us know they are there.

• There are billions of ring particles in the entire ring system.

• The ring particle sizes range from tiny, dust-sized icy grains to a few particles as large as mountains.

• Two tiny moons orbit in gaps (Encke and Keeler gaps) in the rings and keep the gaps open.

History of Observation

Ancient observations

In ancient times, it was the most distant of the five known planets

in the solar system (excluding Earth) and thus a major

character in various mythologies.

Robert Hooke noted the shadows (a and b) cast by both the globe and the rings on each other in this drawing of Saturn in 1666.

European Observations (17th–19th Centuries)

Galileo, Christian Huygens, Giovanni Domenico Cassini, William Herschel, and William Henry Pickering played important roles in the early observations of the ringed planet and the discoveries of its moons.

Modern NASA/ESA Probes

Some Of The Modern Probes Sent By NASA/ESA To Saturn:• Pioneer 11 Flyby• Voyager Flybys• Cassini – Huygens

SpacecraftPioneer 11 was the first space probe to investigate the planet Saturn.

That’s all, Thank you