From the incredible low-density of Saturn
to the famous “dragon storm”, we countdown
the Top 10 interesting Facts about Saturn!
10.
The basics
There is no doubt that Saturn is the most
beautiful planet in our solar system.
Thanks to its extensive icy planetary rings,
Saturn manages to stand out.
The gas giant is the second-largest planet
and sixth closest planet to the sun.
Ancient Romans have actually named Saturn
after a Roman agricultural deity of the same
name.
In mythology, Saturn was the son of Uranus
and the father of Jupiter.
Also, the planet's astronomical symbol represents
the god of agriculture's sickle.
9.
Saturn has about 150 moons and moonlets
Saturn has a large number of natural satellites,
and its moon system is very asymmetrical.
All the moons vary in size and shape.
Its largest moon, Titan, is bigger than Mercury
while its smallest moonlet is only one kilometer
in size.
Then we have Mimas, the fascinating moon that
resembles the Death Star from Star Wars and
Hyperion that looks like an ugly sponge-like
lump.
There is dark and mysterious Phoebe that was
once thought to be an asteroid only pretending
to be a moon.
It won't be wrong to say that every satellite
is unique in its own way.
The larger moons are made up of ice, but the
tiny moonlets are likely to be rocky.
8.
Saturn's moon Phoebe has a retrograde orbit
Phoebe is one mysterious moon.
It is the largest irregular moon of Saturn
discovered by William Henry Pickering in 1899.
Phoebe is roughly spherical in shape with
its own ring.
Its ring actually makes up one of the rings
of Saturn, but it is enormous in size and
dwarfs other rings.
Not only that, it is somewhat invisible.
Another unique thing about Phoebe is that
its orbit moves in the opposite direction.
Its dark coloring led scientists to believe
that it was an asteroid rather than a moon.
However, further studies proved that wrong.
7.
Saturn could float
Saturn is a low-density planet.
As it is mostly composed of hydrogen and helium,
its density is even lower than water.
If there were an ocean large enough for it,
Saturn would happily float on it.
6.
The rings of Saturn
Saturn has the most extensive planetary ring
system in the entire solar system.
With the right telescope, anyone can observe
the pretty rings of Saturn from earth.
They are made up of innumerable water ice
particles that range in size from micrometers
(dust) to meters (moonlets).
These particles together orbit the Saturn.
They are approximately 282,000 km across and
only 1 km thick.
The rings are beautifully colored in various
shades of pink, grey and brown.
5.
The Dragon Storm
The Dragon Storm is an unusually shaped convective
storm in the southern hemisphere of Saturn.
It is known for its enormous size, brightness
and radio emissions.
The thunderstorm first appeared in 2004 and
has been still going on.
It has periodic flare ups featuring radio
bursts and pronounced white plumes.
4.
Exploration of Saturn
A number of unmanned probes have been sent
to the planet for exploration.
Three of these missions were flybys that include
Pioneer 11, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2.
In 2004, the Cassini–Huygens spacecraft
was launched to perform the Saturn Orbit Insertion
maneuver.
The Cassini orbiter has found evidence of
hydrocarbon lakes and seas as big as the Caspian
Sea on Saturn's moons Titan, proof of liquid
water reservoirs on Enceladus, new planetary
rings and new satellites among other things.
3.
Saturn is super windy
Saturn is gaseous and windy.
On Earth, the fastest wind speed is not more
than 400 kilometers per hour, but on Saturn,
it is normal for the wind speed to reach 1,800
kilometers per hour!
It is particularly windy around the equator.
2.
The planet has very short days but very long
years
Saturn rotates on its axis twice as fast as
Earth.
A day on Saturn is only 10 hours and 14 minutes
long!
However, one year on Saturn is equal to 29.7
Earth years because it spins very slowly around
the sun.
1.
The Jewel of the Solar System
Saturn is lovingly called The Jewel of the
Solar System and it is easy to see why!
Its large size and visible rings make it quite
a sight.
If you have a telescope lying around, make
sure to obverse the planet!
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Saturn.
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