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The Ringed Planet

Saturn is unique in our solar system for its massive beautiful rings made of ice. Saturn is also the second largest planet and its namesake is the father of Jupiter. Saturn is 9.5 AU away from the sun with a year being 29.45 Earth years. Just like Jupiter, Saturn has many moons with the current total being 62. 

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Saturn Facts

  • A day on Saturn is roughly 10.7 hours and a year is 29 Earth years

    • Saturn has the second fastest day in the solar system​

  • Just like Jupiter, Saturn is a gas giant made of mostly hydrogen and helium

  • Nine Earths side by side would almost span Saturn’s diameter (not including the rings)

  • Saturn has the most spectacular ring system, with seven rings and several gaps and divisions between them.

  • Twice every 29 and a half years the great planet Saturn appears ringless.

  • ​While Saturn can not support life as we know it, some of its moons might be able to 

  • Saturn has an axis tilt of 26.73 degrees which is similar to Earth's 23 degree tilt, meaning that Saturn experiences seasons like Earth 

  • Saturn's ring system extends up to 175,000 miles  from the planet, yet the vertical height is typically about 30 feet in the main rings.

  • The rings are named alphabetically in the order they were discovered

    • ​The main rings are A, B, and C. Rings D, E, F, and G are fainter and more recently discovered

  • At Saturn's center is a dense core of metals like iron and nickel surrounded by rocky material and other compounds solidified by intense pressure and heat. It is enveloped by liquid metallic hydrogen inside a layer of liquid hydrogen –similar to Jupiter's core but considerably smaller.

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