Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the most distant planet visible to the naked eye.
It is the second-largest planet in the solar system and is best known for its spectacular ring system, first observed in 1610 by the astronomer Galileo Galilei. Like Jupiter, Saturn is a gas giant, composed primarily of hydrogen and helium, with trace amounts of methane and other gases.
Profil planeta Saturn | |
|---|---|
Equatorlal Diameter | 120.536 km |
Polar Diameter | 108.728 km |
Mass | 5,68 × 10 ^ 26 kg (95 Zemelj) |
Moons | 62 (Titan, Enceladus, Iapetus & Rhea) |
Rings | 30+ (7 groups) |
Orbit Distance | 1.426.666.422 km (9,54 AU) |
Orbit Period | 10,756 days (29,5 years) |
Surfface Tempature | -178 ° C |
Atmosphere | Hydrogen and helium with traces of methane, ammonia, and water vapour. |
Surface Gravity | 10.44 m/s² (≈ 106% of Earth) |
First Record | 8th century BC |
Recorded By | Asirci |
Saturn’s atmosphere is composed mainly of hydrogen and helium.
Hydrogen accounts for approximately 96% of the atmosphere, while helium makes up about 3%, with trace amounts of methane, ammonia, acetylene, ethane, propane, and phosphine. In the upper atmosphere, winds can reach speeds of up to 500 metres per second. Together with heat rising from Saturn’s interior, these powerful winds shape the planet’s distinctive yellow and golden cloud bands.
Saturn is the fifth-brightest object in the solar system and can be easily observed without optical aid. Binoculars or a small telescope reveal even more detail.
The planet was observed by the Babylonians and early Far Eastern astronomers. It was named after the Roman god Saturnus and known to the Greeks as Cronus.
Its polar diameter is only about 90% of its equatorial diameter. This extreme flattening is caused by Saturn’s low density and rapid rotation. The planet completes one rotation in 10 hours and 34 minutes, giving it the second-shortest day in the solar system.
Saturn orbits the Sun once every 29.4 Earth years. Its slow movement across the night sky earned it the Assyrian name “Lubadsagush,” meaning “oldest of the old.”
The upper atmosphere is divided into distinct bands. The highest layers are made mostly of ammonia ice, followed by water-ice clouds and deeper layers of cold hydrogen and sulfur compounds.
The planet hosts massive oval storms similar to those on Jupiter. Around its north pole is a persistent hexagonal cloud pattern, believed to be a wave in the upper atmosphere. A powerful hurricane-like vortex also spins above the south pole.
As pressure increases deeper inside the planet, hydrogen becomes denser and eventually turns metallic. Beneath these layers lies a hot, compact core.
Its rings are made primarily of ice with small amounts of carbon-rich dust. They extend more than 120,700 km from the planet yet are astonishingly thin, measuring only about 20 metres in thickness.
These moons and moonlets are mostly frozen worlds. The largest include Titan in Rhea, while Enceladus is believed to hide a liquid ocean beneath its icy surface.
Titan is composed of water ice and rock, with lakes of liquid methane and landscapes covered in frozen nitrogen. Scientists consider it a potential habitat for life, though not Earth-like life.
Pioneer 11, Voyager 1, Voyager 2, and the Cassini–Huygens mission have all explored the planet. Cassini orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017, returning an unprecedented amount of data about Saturn, its rings, and its moons.
