Gas giant
Saturn
The ringed planet
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest, instantly recognizable by its spectacular ring system. The rings are made of billions of chunks of ice and rock, ranging from dust grains to house-sized boulders, yet they average only about 10 meters thick. Saturn is a gas giant of hydrogen and helium, so light that it would float in a bathtub big enough to hold it. It has more confirmed moons than any other planet.
Quick facts
- Distance from Sun
- 1.4 billion km (9.5 AU)
- Diameter
- 116,460 km (9.1x Earth)
- Day length
- 10.7 hours
- Year length
- 29.4 Earth years
- Moons
- 274 confirmed (most of any planet)
- Avg. temperature
- -140 C (cloud tops)
What's it like there?
Like Jupiter, Saturn has no solid surface, only ever-deepening layers of gas. Winds near its equator can reach 1,800 km/h, among the fastest in the solar system. From within the cloud decks, the famous rings would appear as a bright arch crossing the sky. A strange hexagon-shaped jet stream, wider than two Earths, swirls around Saturn's north pole. Its moon Titan has lakes of liquid methane, and Enceladus vents water into space.
Notable moons
Titan
Larger than Mercury, with a thick atmosphere and lakes of liquid methane.
Enceladus
Sprays water-ice geysers from a subsurface ocean into space.
Mimas
Its giant Herschel crater gives it a famous "Death Star" look.
Fun facts
Saturn is the least dense planet; it would float in water.
Saturn's rings span about 282,000 km but average only ~10 meters thick.
A hexagonal storm system circles Saturn's north pole.
Saturn has 274 confirmed moons, the most in the solar system.
The rings are slowly raining material onto Saturn and may fade over hundreds of millions of years.
Exploration history
Pioneer 11 1979
First flyby of Saturn.
Voyager 1 & 2 1980-81
Revealed ring structure and discovered new moons.
Cassini-Huygens 2004-17
Orbited Saturn for 13 years; Huygens landed on Titan.
Saturn vs Earth
| Property | Earth | Saturn |
|---|---|---|
| Diameter | 12,742 km | 116,460 km |
| Year length | 365 days | 29.4 years |
| Moons | 1 | 274 |
| Day length | 24 hours | 10.7 hours |
| Density | 5.5 g/cm3 | 0.69 g/cm3 |
Scientific Sources & Provenance
All data is verified against official space agency records (NASA, ESA, and IAU).
- NASA Science / Mission Datahttps://science.nasa.gov/saturn/
- NASA Science / Mission Datahttps://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/saturnfact.html
- ESA Datahttps://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Cassini-Huygens