Saturn

Saturn

Saturn is the sixth planet from Sun and second largest planet in our solar system.Saturn also has got name after Jupiter name Roman god of agriculture.Saturn has a particular symbol for its representation  Saturn symbol.svgthe mean of this symbol is god sickle.Saturn is as largest gas giant planet after Jupiter.Adorned with thousands of beautiful ringlets, Saturn is unique among the planets. All four gas giant planets have rings  made of chunks of ice and rock but none are as spectacular or as complicated as Saturn's. Like the other gas giants, Saturn is mostly a massive ball of hydrogen and helium.Saturn radius is almost nine time

of earth and has massive volume which  95 time of earth.Interior composition of Saturn maybe a core of iron. this core is surrounded by mettalic hydrogen.And the middle layer of Saturn is liquid  hydrogen and liquid helium.Saturn outer surface look like yellow because of that Ammonia crystals  exist in its atmosphere. Saturn has its planetary magnetic field  this magnetic field produce when electrical current passing through the  its liquid hydrogen layers. The magnetic field of Saturn is little lesser to earth.Wind speeds on Saturn can reach 1800km/h which  is faster than on Jupiter.

Jupiter has 62 moons.

Saturn rings system- The rings of saturn were seen in 1610 first time by astronomer Galileo but at that time his telescope was not  strong to collect enough detail. Saturn has  a prominent rings system. It has nine continuous ring and three discontinuous arcs.The famous rings of Saturn is mostly composed by ice particles and  small amount of rocky debris and dust.


FACTS ABOUT SATURN-Twice every 29 and a half years the great planet Saturn appears ringless. This is an optical illusion: Earthlings cannot see Saturn's rings when the rings are edge-on as viewed from the Earth. They are barely visible through powerful telescopes

  • Saturn can be seen with the naked eye.

    It is the fifth brightest object in the solar system and is also easily studied through binoculars or a small telescope.

  • Saturn was known to the ancients, including the Babylonians and Far Eastern observers.

    It is named for the Roman god Saturnus, and was known to the Greeks as Cronus.

  • Saturn is the flattest planet.

    Its polar diameter is 90% of its equatorial diameter, this is due to its low density and fast rotation. Saturn turns on its axis once every 10 hours and 34 minutes giving it the second-shortest day of any of the solar system’s planets.

  • Saturn orbits the Sun once every 29.4 Earth years.

    Its slow movement against the backdrop of stars earned it the nickname of “Lubadsagush” from the ancient Assyrians. The name means “oldest of the old”.

  • Saturn’s upper atmosphere is divided into bands of clouds.

    The top layers are mostly ammonia ice. Below them, the clouds are largely water ice. Below are layers of cold hydrogen and sulfur ice mixtures.

  • Saturn has oval-shaped storms similar to Jupiter’s.

    The region around its north pole has a hexagonal-shaped pattern of clouds. Scientists think this may be a wave pattern in the upper clouds. The planet also has a vortex over its south pole that resembles a hurricane-like storm.

  • Saturn is made mostly of hydrogen.

    It exists in layers that get denser farther into the planet. Eventually, deep inside, the hydrogen becomes metallic. At the core lies a hot interior.

  • Saturn has the most extensive rings in the solar system.

    The Saturnian rings are made mostly of chunks of ice and small amounts of carbonaceous dust. The rings stretch out more than 120,700 km from the planet, but are are amazingly thin: only about 20 meters thick.

  • Saturn has 150 moons and smaller moonlets.

    All are frozen worlds. The largest moons are Titan and Rhea. Enceladus appears to have an ocean below its frozen surface.

  • Titan is a moon with complex and dense nitrogen-rich atmosphere.

    It is composed mostly of water ice and rock. Its frozen surface has lakes of liquid methane and landscapes covered with frozen nitrogen. Planetary scientists consider Titan to be a possible harbour for life, but not Earth-like life..

.MOONS OF SATURN- Saturn has 62 moons but very famous moon of Saturn among them is TITAN. Titan is the second largest moon in our solar system.Titan is large than Mercury

Titan is only moons in our solar system which substantial Atmosphere because its atmosphere is similar to earth and contain mostly Nitrogen like earth.Titan could be considered a planet if it does not revolve in the orbit of Saturn because it is large than Mercury.

MISSION CONDUCTED BY NASA- Four mission has been conducted by NASA to explore Saturn

1- PIONEER 11- Pioneer 11 was the first space craft flew for exploration of Saturn in 1979.

It flew 20,000 km in cloud layer to the top of Saturn but it could not get succeed to get high  resolution picture of the surface of Saturn

2-VOYAGER 1-- Voyager 1 flew for Saturn exploration in November 1980 which got  successfully send to earth high resolution picture of Saturn surface.

3-CASSINI-HUYGENS- Cassini huygens mission which is know better Cassini was conducted with the collaboration of NASA and EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY AND ITALIAN SPACE AGENCY for study about the planet Saturn and its prominent rings and its natural satellites.

Cassini was launched  15 October 1997 .Cassini spend 13 year in the orbit of Saturn and the mission of Cassini has ended 15 September  2017

   COMP0TION OF SATURN- The composition of Saturn is similarly to the  Jupiter both gas Giant planet has composed primarily 75%  Hydrogen and 25% Helium.