Saturn is the second largest planet in
our solar system and it orbits nearly
billion miles away from the Sun Saturn
is surrounded by rings of ice rock and
dust and it has at least 62 moons in
orbit around it Saturn is a gigantic
ball of gases mostly hydrogen and helium
with a sprinkling of other chemicals as
Saturn spins its outer clouds do not
move as one blanket but instead circle
in wind patterns seen as stripes
Saturn's inside are still cooling down
and heat slowly bubbles up from below
coloring the stripes golden waves and
introducing occasional storms that are
seen as bright white swirls to our radio
telescopes this escaping heat makes
Saturn happier very bright and we can
see beneath Saturn's cloud layers when
measured up close by robotic spacecraft
the pattern of radio waves also helps us
to measure the speed that the gases are
moving around the planet that gives us a
good estimate of the speed that Saturn
is spinning underneath its 36,000 miles
of atmosphere Saturn may have a small
solid core on top of that core are huge
oceans of liquid hydrogen
Saturn's deepest hydrogen ocean has
become metallic under the incredible
pressure of the layers of hydrogen above
it the metallic hydrogen ocean acts like
a huge electromagnet as it churns
creating a large magnetic field
spreading out around Saturn any
particles that get trapped in this field
give off radio waves and if the
particles ride the magnetic field lines
into the atmosphere of Saturn they make
Aurora that give off even more radio
waves
the greatest suppliers of these
particles are the Sun and three of
Saturn's moons the sun's varying stream
of charged particles known as the solar
wind smashes into Saturn's magnetic
field all day and night causing the
Aurora on Saturn Saturn's moon day Oni
has an icy surface that is bombard by
certain powerful radiation causing its
ice molecules to burst into hydrogen and
oxygen atoms that are then free to leave
the moon's surface get caught in the
magnetic field and emit radio waves
eruptions of water and gas from Saturn's
geyser moon Enceladus creates Saturn's
earrings and also emit radio waves when
they become trapped in Saturn's magnetic
field the only person that doesn't have
yes
but by a bleep
