DEFINITION OF SATURN

A giant, gaseous planet, Saturn is the sixth planet

residing between Jupiter and Uranus, orbiting at 9.54 astronomical

units (888 miles, or 1,430 million kilometers) from

the Sun, twice the distance from the center of the solar system

as Jupiter, and having an orbital period of 29.5 Earth years.

The mass of Saturn is 95 times that of Earth, yet it rotates at

more than twice the rate of Earth. The average density of this

gaseous planet is only 0.7 grams/cm3, less than water. The

planet has molecular hydrogen interior with a radius of

37,282 miles (60,000 km), a metallic hydrogen core with a

radius of 18,641 miles (30,000 km), and a rocky/icy inner

core with a radius of 9,320 miles (15,000 km).

The most striking features of Saturn are its many rings

and moons, with the rings circling the planet along its equatorial

plane and their appearance from Earth changing with the

seasons because of the different tilt of the planet as it orbits

the Sun. The rings are more than 124,275 miles (200,000 km)

in diameter but are less than 600 feet (200 m) thick. They are

composed of numerous small particles, most of which are ice

between a few millimeters and a few tens of meters in diameter.

The breaks in the rings are a result of gravitational

dynamics between the planet and its many moons.

Saturn has a yellowish-tan color produced largely by

gaseous methane and ammonia, but the atmosphere consists

of 92.4 percent molecular hydrogen, 7.4 percent helium, 0.2

percent methane, and 0.02 percent ammonia. These gases are

stratified into three main layers, including a 100–200-kilome-

ter-thick outer layer of ammonia, a 31–62-mile (50–100-km)

thick layer of ammonium hydrosulfide ice, and a deeper

31–62-mile (50–100 km) thick layer of water ice. The atmosphere

of Saturn is somewhat colder and thicker than that of

Jupiter. Atmospheric winds on Saturn reach a maximum eastward-

flowing velocity of 930 miles per hour (1,500 km/hr) at

the equator and diminish with a few belts of high velocity

toward the poles. Like Jupiter, Saturn has atmospheric bands

related to these velocity variations, as well as turbulent storms

that show as spots, and a few westward-flowing bands.

Many moons circle Saturn, including the large, rocky

Titan, possessing a thick nitrogen–argon-rich atmosphere

that contains hydrocarbons including methane, similar to the

basic building blocks of life on Earth. Other large to midsize

moons include, in increasing distance from the planet,

Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, and Iapetus. About

a dozen other moons of significant size are known to be circling

the planet.

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