Saturn
Saturn, the sixth planet from the Sun, has a ring system made up of ice and rock particles, some as big as a minivan.
 In this 1982 image from Voyager 2, Saturn is shown with three of its moon (from left to right): Tethys, Dion, and Rhea. NASA / JPL [View Larger Image] Distance from the Sun: Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun, with an orbit roughly 888 million miles (1.43 billion km) away. Orbit around the Sun: Saturn journeys 29.4 Earth years to go around the Sun once. Rotation: It takes Saturn only 11 hours to spin on its axis one time. Surface: Saturn does not have solid surface. Atmosphere: The atmosphere of this ringed planet is like Jupiter's atmosphere. Saturn holds mostly hydrogen (97 percent) and helium (3 percent). Saturn also has beautiful bands like Jupiter, but these colorful features are hidden by haze and smog that make up the planet's high atmosphere. |
–300° F (–184° C).
Escape velocity: To escape Saturn's gravity, you need to travel 79,400 miles (127,800 km) per hour, compared to 25,000 miles (40,200 km) per hour necessary to escape Earth's gravity.
Other information: Saturn is also called the "ringed planet." Although Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune also have ring systems, Saturn's is the largest. Saturn's rings are 169,800 miles (273,000 km) across, but only 10 to 100 yards (9 to 90 meters) thick. Saturn's rings are made of ice and rock particles, some as big as a minivan.
If you could find a bathtub big enough to put Saturn in, it would float.
Saturn looks like a ball that is being squished. Because Saturn spins so fast, its middle bulges while its poles flatten out. This makes Saturn look like somebody is squeezing it.
There are 47 moons orbiting Saturn. One of these bodies looks like the "Death Star" spaceship from Star Wars: Mimas has a large crater that covers one-third of the small moon.
Saturn was the Roman god of the harvest and the father of Jupiter. He is identified as the Greek god Cronus.
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