The story about Saturn for children contains information about what the temperature is on Saturn, about its satellites and features. You can supplement your message about Saturn with interesting facts.

Brief message about Saturn

Saturn is the sixth planet of the solar system, which is also called the “lord of the rings”.

The planet got its name from the ancient Roman god of fertility. The planet has been known since ancient times, because Saturn is one of the brightest objects in our starry sky. It is the second largest giant planet. Saturn's rings, made up of thousands of solid pieces of rock and ice, orbit the planet at a speed of 10 km/s. Saturn's rings are very thin. With a diameter of about 250,000 km, their thickness does not reach even a kilometer.

There are 62 currently known satellites orbiting the planet. Titan is the largest of them, as well as the second largest satellite in the Solar System (after the satellite of Jupiter, Ganymede), which is larger than Mercury and has the only dense atmosphere among the satellites of the Solar System

Message about Saturn for children

The sixth planet, Saturn, was named after the Roman god of agriculture. Its dimensions are only slightly inferior to Jupiter.

The average diameter of Saturn is 58,000 km. Despite the large size, A day on Saturn lasts only 10 hours and 14 minutes.. One revolution around the Sun takes almost 30 Earth years.

The planet has 62 satellites discovered. Among them, the most famous are Atlas, Prometheus, Pandora, Epimetheus, Janus, Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Telesto, Calypso, Dione, Helen, Rhea, Titan, Hyperon, Iapetus, Phoebe. The satellite of Phoebus, unlike all the others, turns in the opposite direction. In addition, the existence of 3 more satellites is assumed.

In terms of mass, Saturn is less than Jupiter by more than three times. The planet consists of gases, 94% of it is hydrogen, and the rest is mostly helium.

Due to this, wind speeds on Saturn are higher than on Jupiter - 1700 km/h. Moreover, wind flows in the southern and northern hemispheres of the planet are symmetrical relative to the equator.

Surface temperature of Saturn-188 degrees Celsius: This is the result of solar activity and its own heat source. In the center of the planet there is an iron-silicon core, with an admixture of ices from methane, ammonia and water, and the chemical lattice of ice inside Saturn is significantly different from the usual one.

Saturn is also unique because its density is less than the density of earthly water. This planet constantly experiences enormous storms, visible even from Earth, accompanied by lightning!

The most remarkable phenomenon of the cosmic god of time is considered to be the rings encircling the planet. They were discovered by Galileo in 1610. They orbit Saturn at varying speeds and are made up of thousands of solid pieces of rock and ice.

Saturn's rings are very thin. With a diameter of about 250,000 km, their thickness does not even reach a kilometer. Today astronomers It is known that there are 7 main rings.

Characteristics of the planet:

• Distance from the Sun: 1,427 million km
• Planet diameter: ~ 120,000 km*
• Day on the planet: 10h 13m 23s**
• Year on the planet: 29.46 years***
• t° on the surface: -180°C
• Atmosphere: 96% hydrogen; 3% helium; 0.4% methane and traces of other elements
• Satellites: 18

* diameter along the planet's equator
**period of rotation around its own axis (in Earth days)
***period of orbit around the Sun (in Earth days)

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun - the average distance to the star is almost 9.6 AU. e. (≈780 million km).

Presentation: planet Saturn

The planet's orbital period is 29.46 years, and the rotation time around its axis is almost 10 hours 40 minutes. The equatorial radius of Saturn is 60,268 km, and its mass is more than 568 thousand billion megatons (with an average density of planetary matter of ≈0.69 g/cc). Thus, Saturn is the second largest and most massive planet in the solar system after Jupiter. At an atmospheric pressure level of 1 bar, the atmospheric temperature is 134 K.

Internal structure

The main chemical elements that make up Saturn are hydrogen and helium. These gases transform at high pressure inside the planet, first into a liquid state, and then (at a depth of 30 thousand km) into a solid state, since under the physical conditions existing there (pressure ≈3 million atm.) hydrogen acquires a metallic structure. A strong magnetic field is created in this metal structure; its intensity at the top of the clouds near the equator is 0.2 G. Below the layer of metallic hydrogen is a solid core of heavier elements, such as iron.

Atmosphere and surface

In addition to hydrogen and helium, the planet's atmosphere contains small amounts of methane, ethane, acetylene, ammonia, phosphine, arsine, germane and other substances. The average molecular weight is 2.135 g/mol. The main characteristic of the atmosphere is homogeneity, which does not allow one to distinguish small details on the surface. The wind speed on Saturn is high - at the equator it reaches 480 m/s. The temperature of the upper boundary of the atmosphere is 85 K (-188°C). There are many methane clouds in the upper layers of the atmosphere - several dozen belts and a number of individual vortices. In addition, powerful thunderstorms and auroras are observed quite often here.

Satellites of the planet Saturn

Saturn is a unique planet that has a ring system with billions of small objects of ice, iron and rock particles, as well as many moons - all of which orbit the planet. Some satellites are large. For example, Titan, one of the large satellites of the planets in the Solar System, second in size only to Jupiter’s satellite Ganymede. Titan is the only satellite in the entire solar system that has an atmosphere similar to that of Earth, where the pressure is only one and a half times higher than that of the surface of planet Earth. In total, Saturn has 62 satellites out of those already discovered; they have their own orbits around the planet, the rest of the particles and small asteroids are part of the so-called ring system. More and more new satellites are beginning to be discovered by researchers, so in 2013 the last confirmed satellites were Egeon and S/2009 S 1.

The main feature of Saturn, which distinguishes it from other planets, is its huge ring system - its width is almost 115 thousand km with a thickness of about 5 km. The constituent elements of these formations are particles (their size reaches several tens of meters) consisting of ice, iron oxide and rocks. In addition to the system of rings, this planet has a large number of natural satellites - about 60. The largest is Titan (this satellite is the second largest in the solar system), whose radius exceeds 2.5 thousand km.

With the help of the Cassini interplanetary probe, a unique phenomenon on the planet, a thunderstorm, was captured. It turns out that on Saturn, just like on our planet Earth, thunderstorms occur, only they occur many times less often, but the duration of the thunderstorm lasts for several months. This thunderstorm in the video lasted on Saturn from January to October in 2009 and was a real storm on the planet. Radiofrequency crackles (characterizing lightning flashes) are also heard in the video, as Georg Fischer (a scientist at the Institute for Space Research in Austria) said about this unusual phenomenon - “For the first time, we are simultaneously observing lightning and hearing radio data.”

Exploring the Planet

Galileo was the first to observe Saturn in 1610 through his telescope with 20x magnification. The ring was discovered by Huygens in 1658. The greatest contribution to the study of this planet was made by Cassini, who discovered several satellites and breaks in the structure of the ring, the widest of which bears his name. With the development of astronautics, the study of Saturn was continued using automatic spacecraft, the first of which was Pioneer-11 (the expedition took place in 1979). Space research continued with the Voyager and Cassini-Huygens series.

Known since ancient times, Saturn is the sixth planet of our solar system, famous for its rings. It is part of the four gas giant planets, such as Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. With its size (diameter = 120,536 km), it is second only to Jupiter and is the second largest in the entire solar system. She was named in honor of the ancient Roman god Saturn, who among the Greeks was called Kronos (titan and father of Zeus himself).

The planet itself, along with its rings, can be seen from Earth, even with an ordinary small telescope. A day on Saturn is 10 hours 15 minutes, and the period of rotation around the Sun is almost 30 years!
Saturn is a unique planet because... its density is 0.69 g/cm³, which is less than the density of water 0.99 g/cm³. An interesting pattern follows from this: if it were possible to immerse the planet in a huge ocean or pool, then Saturn would be able to stay on the water and float in it.

Structure of Saturn

The structure of Saturn and Jupiter have many similarities, both in composition and in basic characteristics, but their appearance is quite noticeably different. Jupiter has bright tones, while Saturn has noticeably muted tones. Due to the smaller number of cloud-like formations in the lower layers, the stripes on Saturn are less noticeable. Another similarity with the fifth planet: Saturn emits more heat than it receives from the Sun.
The atmosphere of Saturn consists almost entirely of hydrogen (96% (H2), 3% helium (He). Less than 1% consists of methane, ammonia, ethane and other elements. Although the percentage of methane is insignificant in the atmosphere of Saturn, this does not prevent it from taking an active part in the absorption of solar radiation.
In the upper layers, a minimum temperature of –189 °C is recorded, but when immersed in the atmosphere, it increases significantly. At a depth of about 30 thousand km, hydrogen changes and becomes metallic. It is liquid metallic hydrogen that creates a magnetic field of enormous power. The core in the center of the planet turns out to be stone-iron.
When studying gaseous planets, scientists encountered a problem. After all, there is no clear boundary between the atmosphere and the surface. The problem was solved in the following way: they take as a certain zero height “zero” the point at which the temperature begins to count in the opposite direction. As a matter of fact, this is what happens on Earth.

Imagining Saturn, any person immediately conjures up its unique and amazing rings. Research carried out using AMS (automatic interplanetary stations) has shown that 4 gaseous giant planets have their own rings, but only Saturn has such good visibility and effectiveness. There are three main rings of Saturn, named rather simply: A, B, C. The fourth ring is much thinner and less noticeable. As it turned out, the rings of Saturn are not one solid body, but billions of small celestial bodies (pieces of ice), ranging in size from a speck of dust to several meters. They move at approximately the same speed (about 10 km/s) around the equatorial part of the planet, sometimes colliding with each other.

Photos from the AMS showed that all visible rings consist of thousands of small rings alternating with empty, unfilled space. For clarity, you can imagine an ordinary record from Soviet times.
The unique shape of the rings has always haunted both scientists and ordinary observers. They all tried to find out their structure and understand how and why they were formed. At different times, different hypotheses and assumptions were put forward, for example, that they formed along with the planet. Currently, scientists are inclined to believe that the rings are of meteorite origin. This theory has also received observational confirmation, since the rings of Saturn are periodically renewed and are not anything stable.

Saturn's moons

Now Saturn has about 63 discovered satellites. The vast majority of satellites are turned to the planet with the same side and rotate synchronously.

Christiaan Huygens had the honor of discovering the second largest satellite, after Ganimer, in the entire solar system. It is larger in size than Mercury, and its diameter is 5155 km. The atmosphere of Titan is red-orange: 87% is nitrogen, 11% is argon, 2% is methane. Naturally, methane rains occur there, and on the surface there should be seas containing methane. However, the Voyager 1 apparatus, which examined Titan, was unable to discern its surface through such a dense atmosphere.
The moon Enceladus is the brightest solar body in the entire solar system. It reflects more than 99% of sunlight due to its almost white surface made of water ice. Its albedo (characteristic of a reflective surface) is more than 1.
Also among the more famous and most studied satellites, it is worth noting “Mimas”, “Tethea” and “Dione”.

Characteristics of Saturn

Mass: 5.69*1026 kg (95 times more than Earth)
Diameter at equator: 120,536 km (9.5 times larger than Earth)
Diameter at the pole: 108728 km
Axle tilt: 26.7°
Density: 0.69 g/cm³
Upper layer temperature: about –189 °C
Period of revolution around its own axis (length of a day): 10 hours 15 minutes
Distance from the Sun (average): 9.5 a. e. or 1430 million km
Orbital period around the Sun (year): 29.5 years
Orbital speed: 9.7 km/s
Orbital eccentricity: e = 0.055
Orbital inclination to the ecliptic: i = 2.5°
Gravity acceleration: 10.5 m/s²
Satellites: there are 63 pieces.

Photo taken from the Cassini spacecraft

Planet Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun. Everyone knows about this planet. Almost everyone can easily recognize her because her rings are her calling card.

General information about the planet Saturn

Do you know what her famous rings are made of? The rings consist of ice stones ranging in size from microns to several meters. Saturn, like all giant planets, consists mainly of gases. Its rotation varies from 10 hours and 39 minutes to 10 hours and 46 minutes. These measurements are based on radio observations of the planet.

Image of the planet Saturn

Using the latest propulsion systems and launch vehicles, the spacecraft will take at least 6 years and 9 months to arrive at the planet.

At the moment, the only Cassini spacecraft has been in orbit since 2004, and it has been the main supplier of scientific data and discoveries for many years. For children, the planet Saturn, as in principle for adults, is truly the most beautiful of the planets.

General characteristics

The largest planet in the solar system is Jupiter. But the title of second largest planet belongs to Saturn.

Just for comparison, the diameter of Jupiter is about 143 thousand kilometers, and Saturn is only 120 thousand kilometers. The size of Jupiter is 1.18 times larger than that of Saturn, and its mass is 3.34 times more massive.

In fact, Saturn is very large, but light. And if the planet Saturn is immersed in water, it will float on the surface. The planet's gravity is only 91% of Earth's.

Saturn and Earth differ in size by 9.4 times and in mass by 95 times. The volume of the gas giant could fit 763 planets like ours.

Orbit

The planet's complete revolution around the Sun takes 29.7 years. Like all planets in the Solar System, its orbit is not a perfect circle, but has an elliptical trajectory. The average distance to the Sun is 1.43 billion km, or 9.58 AU.

The closest point in Saturn's orbit is called perihelion and is located 9 astronomical units from the Sun (1 AU is the average distance from the Earth to the Sun).

The most distant point of the orbit is called aphelion and is located 10.1 astronomical units from the Sun.

Cassini intersects the plane of Saturn's rings.

One of the interesting features of Saturn's orbit is the following. Like the Earth, Saturn's rotation axis is tilted relative to the plane of the Sun. Halfway through its orbit, Saturn's south pole faces the Sun, followed by its north pole. During the Saturnian year (almost 30 Earth years), there come periods when the planet is visible from the Earth edge-on and the plane of the giant's rings coincides with our angle of view, and they disappear from view. The thing is that the rings are extremely thin, so from a great distance they are almost impossible to see from the edge. The next time the rings will disappear for the Earth observer is in 2024-2025. Since Saturn's year lasts almost 30 years, since Galileo first observed it through a telescope in 1610, it has orbited the Sun approximately 13 times.

Climatic features

One of the interesting facts is that the planet’s axis is inclined to the ecliptic plane (like the Earth’s). And just like us, there are seasons on Saturn. Halfway through its orbit, the Northern Hemisphere receives more solar radiation, and then everything changes and the Southern Hemisphere is bathed in sunlight. This creates huge storm systems that vary significantly depending on the planet's position in orbit.

Storm in the atmosphere of Saturn. Composite image, artificial colors, MT3, MT2, CB2 filters and infrared data were used

Seasons influence the planet's weather. Over the past 30 years, scientists have found that wind speeds around the planet's equatorial regions have decreased by about 40%. NASA's Voyager probes in 1980-1981 found wind speeds of up to 1,700 km/h, but currently only about 1,000 km/h (2003 measurements).

The time it takes for Saturn to complete a revolution around its axis is 10.656 hours. It took scientists a lot of time and research to find such an accurate figure. Since the planet does not have a surface, there is no way to observe passages of the same areas of the planet, thus estimating its rotation speed. Scientists used the planet's radio emissions to estimate its rotation speed and find the exact length of the day.

Image gallery

Images of the planet taken by the Hubble telescope and the Cassini spacecraft.

Physical properties

Hubble telescope image

The equatorial diameter is 120,536 km, 9.44 times greater than that of the Earth;

The polar diameter is 108,728 km, 8.55 times greater than that of the Earth;

The area of ​​the planet is 4.27 x 10*10 km2, which is 83.7 times larger than that of the Earth;

Volume - 8.2713 x 10 * 14 km3, 763.6 times greater than that of the Earth;

Mass - 5.6846 x 10 * 26 kg, 95.2 times more than that of the Earth;

Density - 0.687 g/cm3, 8 times less than that of the Earth, Saturn is even lighter than water;

This information is incomplete; we will write in more detail about the general properties of the planet Saturn below.

Saturn has 62 moons, in fact about 40% of the moons in our solar system orbit it. Many of these satellites are very small and not visible from Earth. The latter were discovered by the Cassini spacecraft, and scientists expect the spacecraft to find even more icy satellites over time.

Despite the fact that Saturn is too hostile for any form of life that we know, its moon Enceladus is one of the most suitable candidates for the search for life. Enceladus is notable for having ice geysers on its surface. There is some mechanism (probably the tidal influence of Saturn) that creates enough heat for liquid water to exist. Some scientists believe that there is a chance of life on Enceladus.

Planet formation

Like the rest of the planets, Saturn formed from the solar nebula about 4.6 billion years ago. This solar nebula was a vast cloud of cold gas and dust that may have collided with another cloud, or a supernova shock wave. This event initiated the beginning of the compression of the protosolar nebula with the further formation of the Solar System.

The cloud contracted further and further until it formed a protostar at the center, surrounded by a flat disk of material. The inner part of this disk contained more heavy elements, and formed the terrestrial planets, while the outer region was quite cold and, in fact, remained untouched.

The solar nebula material formed more and more planetesimals. These planetesimals collided together, merging into planets. At some point in Saturn's early history, its moon, roughly 300 km across, was torn apart by its gravity and created rings that still orbit the planet today. In fact, the basic parameters of the planet directly depended on the place of its formation and the amount of gas that it was able to capture.

Since Saturn is smaller than Jupiter, it cools faster. Astronomers believe that as soon as its outer atmosphere cooled to 15 degrees Kelvin, helium condensed into droplets that began to descend towards the core. The friction of these droplets has heated the planet, and now it emits about 2.3 times more energy than it receives from the Sun.

Forming rings

View of the planet from space

The main distinguishing feature of Saturn is its rings. How did the rings form? There are several versions. Traditional theory holds that the rings are almost as old as the planet itself and have been around for at least 4 billion years. In the giant's early history, a 300 km satellite came too close to it and was torn to pieces. There is also the possibility that two satellites collided together, or that the satellite was hit by a large enough comet or asteroid and it simply fell apart in orbit.

Alternative ring formation hypothesis

Another hypothesis is that there was no destruction of the satellite. Instead, the rings, as well as the planet itself, were formed from the solar nebula.

But here's the problem: the ice in the rings is too pure. If the rings formed with Saturn, billions of years ago, then we would expect that they would be completely covered in dirt from the effects of micrometeorites. But today we see that they are as pure as if they were formed less than 100 million years ago.

It is possible that the rings are constantly renewing their material by sticking together and colliding with each other, making it difficult to determine their age. This is one of the mysteries that remains to be solved.

Atmosphere

Like the other giant planets, Saturn's atmosphere is made up of 75% hydrogen and 25% helium, with trace amounts of other substances such as water and methane.

Features of the atmosphere

The planet's appearance, in visible light, appears calmer than that of Jupiter. The planet has bands of clouds in its atmosphere, but they are pale orange and faintly visible. The orange color is due to sulfur compounds in its atmosphere. In addition to sulfur, in the upper atmosphere, there are small amounts of nitrogen and oxygen. These atoms react with each other and, when exposed to sunlight, form complex molecules that resemble “smog.” At different wavelengths of light, as well as in Cassini's enhanced images, the atmosphere appears much more impressive and turbulent.

Winds in the atmosphere

The planet's atmosphere produces some of the fastest winds in the solar system (faster only on Neptune). NASA's Voyager spacecraft, which made a flyby of Saturn, measured wind speeds that were found to be around 1,800 km/h at the planet's equator. Large white storms form within bands that orbit the planet, but unlike Jupiter, these storms last only a few months and are absorbed into the atmosphere.

The clouds in the visible part of the atmosphere are composed of ammonia, and are located 100 km below the upper part of the troposphere (tropopause), where the temperature drops to -250 ° C. Below this boundary, the clouds are composed of ammonium hydrosulfide and are approximately 170 km below. In this layer the temperature is only -70 degrees C. The deepest clouds consist of water and are located approximately 130 km below the tropopause. The temperature here is 0 degrees.

The lower, the more pressure and temperature increases and hydrogen gas slowly turns into liquid.

Hexagon

One of the strangest weather phenomena ever discovered is the so-called northern hexagonal storm.

The hexagonal clouds around the planet Saturn were first discovered by Voyagers 1 and 2 after they visited the planet more than three decades ago. Most recently, Saturn's hexagon was photographed in great detail by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, currently in orbit around Saturn. The hexagon (or hexagonal vortex) is about 25,000 km in diameter. It can fit 4 planets like Earth.

The hexagon rotates at exactly the same speed as the planet itself. However, the planet's North Pole is different from the South Pole, which has a huge hurricane with a giant crater in its center. Each side of the hexagon measures about 13,800 km, and the entire structure rotates once on its axis in 10 hours and 39 minutes, the same as the planet itself.

The reason for the formation of a hexagon

So why is the vortex at the North Pole shaped like a hexagon? Astronomers find it difficult to answer this question 100%, but one of the experts and team members in charge of the Cassini visual and infrared spectrometer said: “This is a very strange storm, having precise geometric shapes with six almost identical sides. We've never seen anything like this on other planets."

Gallery of images of the planet's atmosphere

Saturn - planet of storms

Jupiter is known for its violent storms, which are clearly visible through the upper atmosphere, especially the Great Red Spot. But there are also storms on Saturn, although they are not so large and intense, but compared to those on Earth, they are simply huge.

One of the largest storms was the Great White Spot, also known as the Great White Oval, which was observed by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990. Such storms probably occur once a year on Saturn (once every 30 Earth years).

Atmosphere and surface

The planet closely resembles a ball, made almost entirely of hydrogen and helium. Its density and temperature change as it moves deeper into the planet.

Atmospheric composition

The planet's outer atmosphere consists of 93% molecular hydrogen, the rest helium and trace amounts of ammonia, acetylene, ethane, phosphine and methane. It is these trace elements that create the visible streaks and clouds that we see in the photographs.

Core

General diagram of the structure of Saturn

According to the accretion theory, the planet's core is rocky with a large mass, sufficient to trap large amounts of gases in the early solar nebula. Its core, like that of other gas giants, would have to form and become massive much faster than that of other planets in order to have time to acquire primary gases.

The gas giant most likely formed from rocky or icy components, and the low density indicates a mixture of liquid metal and rock at the core. It is the only planet with a density lower than water. In any case, the internal structure of the planet Saturn is more like a ball of thick syrup mixed with stone fragments.

Metallic hydrogen

The metallic hydrogen in the core generates a magnetic field. The magnetic field created in this way is slightly weaker than that of the Earth and extends only to the orbit of its largest satellite, Titan. Titan contributes to the appearance of ionized particles in the planet's magnetosphere, which create auroras in the atmosphere. Voyager 2 detected high solar wind pressure on the planet's magnetosphere. According to measurements taken during the same mission, the magnetic field extends only 1.1 million km.

Planet size

The planet has an equatorial diameter of 120,536 km, which is 9.44 times larger than Earth. The radius is 60,268 km, making it the second largest planet in our solar system, second only to Jupiter. It, like all other planets, is an oblate spheroid. This means that its equatorial diameter is greater than the diameter measured across the poles. In the case of Saturn, this distance is quite significant, due to the high rotation speed of the planet. The polar diameter is 108,728 km, which is 9.796% less than the equatorial diameter, which is why Saturn’s shape is oval.

Around Saturn

Length of day

The speed of rotation of the atmosphere and the planet itself can be measured by three different methods. The first is measuring the speed of rotation of the planet along the cloud layer in the equatorial part of the planet. It has a rotation period of 10 hours and 14 minutes. If measurements are taken in other areas of Saturn, the rotation speed will be 10 hours 38 minutes and 25.4 seconds. Today, the most accurate method for measuring the length of the day is based on measuring radio emissions. This method gives the planet's rotation speed as 10 hours, 39 minutes and 22.4 seconds. Despite these figures, the rate of rotation of the planet's interior cannot currently be accurately measured.

Again, the equatorial diameter of the planet is 120,536 km, and the polar diameter is 108,728 km. It is important to know why this difference in these numbers affects the planet's rotation speed. The situation is the same on other giant planets; the difference in the rotation of different parts of the planet is especially pronounced in Jupiter.

Length of day according to radio emission of the planet

Using radio emission that comes from the inner regions of Saturn, scientists were able to determine its rotation period. Charged particles captured by its magnetic field emit radio waves when they interact with Saturn's magnetic field, at approximately 100 kilohertz.

The Voyager probe measured the planet's radio emissions during the nine months it passed by in the 1980s and the rotation was determined to be 10 hours 39 minutes 24 seconds, with an error of 7 seconds. The Ulysses spacecraft also took measurements 15 years later, and gave a result of 10 hours 45 minutes 45 seconds, with an error of 36 seconds.

It turns out to be a whole 6 minutes difference! Either the planet's rotation has slowed down over the years, or we've missed something. The Cassini interplanetary probe measured these same radio emissions with a plasma spectrometer, and scientists found that in addition to the 6-minute difference in the 30-year measurements, the rotation also changes by one percent per week.

Scientists believe this may be due to two things: solar wind coming from the Sun interferes with measurements, and particles from Enceladus's geysers affect the magnetic field. Both of these factors cause the radio emission to vary, and they can cause different results at the same time.

New data

In 2007, it was found that some point sources of radio emission from the planet do not correspond to the rotation speed of Saturn. Some scientists believe that the difference is due to the influence of Enceladus' moon. The water vapor from these geysers enters the planet's orbit and is ionized, thereby affecting the planet's magnetic field. This slows down the rotation of the magnetic field, but only slightly compared to the rotation of the planet itself. Current estimates of Saturn's rotation, based on various measurements from the Cassini, Voyager and Pioneer spacecraft, are 10 hours, 32 minutes and 35 seconds as of September 2007.

The planet's basic characteristics as reported by Cassini suggest that solar wind is the most likely cause of the difference in the data. Differences in magnetic field rotation measurements occur every 25 days, which corresponds to the rotation period of the Sun. The speed of the solar wind is also constantly changing, which must be taken into account. Enceladus may be making long-term changes.

Gravity

Saturn is a giant planet and does not have a solid surface, and what is impossible to see is its surface (we only see the upper cloud layer) and feel the force of gravity. But let's imagine that there is a certain conditional boundary that will correspond to its imaginary surface. What would be the force of gravity on the planet if you could stand on the surface?

Although Saturn has a greater mass than the Earth (the second largest mass in the Solar System, after Jupiter), it is also the “lightest” of all the planets in the Solar System. The actual gravity at any point on its imaginary surface will be 91% of that on Earth. In other words, if your scale shows your weight as 100 kg on Earth (oh, the horror!), on the “surface” of Saturn you would weigh 92 kg (a little better, but still).

For comparison, on the “surface” of Jupiter the gravity is 2.5 times greater than Earth’s. On Mars, only 1/3, and on the Moon 1/6.

What makes gravity so weak? The giant planet mainly consists of hydrogen and helium, which it accumulated at the very beginning of the formation of the Solar System. These elements were formed at the beginning of the Universe as a result of the Big Bang. This is due to the fact that the planet has an extremely low density.

Temperature of the planet

Voyager 2 image

The uppermost layer of the atmosphere, which is located on the border with space, has a temperature of -150 C. But, as you dive into the atmosphere, the pressure increases and the temperature rises accordingly. In the planet's core, temperatures can reach 11,700 C. But where does such a high temperature come from? It is formed due to a huge amount of hydrogen and helium, which, as it sinks into the bowels of the planet, compresses and heats up the core.

Thanks to gravitational compression, the planet actually generates heat, releasing 2.5 times more energy than it receives from the Sun.

At the bottom of the cloud layer, which consists of water ice, the average temperature is -23 degrees Celsius. Above this layer of ice is ammonium hydrosulfide, with an average temperature of -93 C. Above this lie clouds of ammonia ice, which color the atmosphere orange and yellow.

What does Saturn look like and what color is it?

Even when viewed through a small telescope, the planet's color appears as pale yellow with hints of orange. Using more powerful telescopes such as Hubble or looking at images taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, thin layers of clouds and storms can be seen consisting of a mixture of white and orange colors. But what gives Saturn its color?

Like Jupiter, the planet is composed almost entirely of hydrogen, with a small amount of helium, as well as minor amounts of other compounds such as ammonia, water vapor and various simple hydrocarbons.

Only the upper layer of clouds, which mainly consists of ammonia crystals, is responsible for the color of the planet, and the lower level of clouds is either ammonium hydrosulfide or water.

Saturn has a banded atmosphere similar to that of Jupiter, but the bands are much weaker and wider near the equator. It also doesn't have the long-lived storms—nothing like the Great Red Spot—that often occur as Jupiter approaches the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere.

Some of the photos sent back by Cassini appear blue, like Uranus. But that's probably because we're seeing light scattering from Cassini's perspective.

Compound

Saturn in the night sky

The rings around the planet have captured the imagination of people for hundreds of years. It was also natural to want to know what the planet was made of. Using various methods, scientists have learned that the chemical composition of Saturn is 96% hydrogen, 3% helium and 1% various elements that include methane, ammonia, ethane, hydrogen and deuterium. Some of these gases can be found in its atmosphere, in liquid and molten states.

The state of gases changes with increasing pressure and temperature. At the top of the clouds, you will encounter ammonia crystals, at the bottom of the clouds with ammonium hydrosulfide and/or water. Under the clouds, atmospheric pressure increases, which causes an increase in temperature and hydrogen turns into a liquid state. As we move deeper into the planet, pressure and temperature continue to increase. As a result, hydrogen in the core becomes metallic, passing into this special state of aggregation. The planet is believed to have a loose core that, in addition to hydrogen, consists of rock and some metals.

Modern space exploration has led to many discoveries in the Saturn system. Research began with the flyby of the Pioneer 11 spacecraft in 1979. This mission discovered the F ring. The following year, Voyager 1 flew by, sending back to Earth details of the surfaces of some of the moons. He also proved that Titan's atmosphere is not transparent to visible light. In 1981, Voyager 2 visited Saturn and discovered changes in the atmosphere, and also confirmed the presence of the Maxwell and Keeler gap, which Voyager 1 first saw.

After Voyager 2, the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft arrived in the system, which entered orbit around the planet in 2004; you can read more about its mission in this article.

Radiation

When NASA's Cassini probe first arrived at the planet, it detected thunderstorms and radiation belts around the planet. He even found a new radiation belt located inside the planet's ring. The new radiation belt is 139,000 km from the center of Saturn and extends up to 362,000 km.

Northern Lights on Saturn

Video showing northern, created from images from the Hubble telescope and the Cassini spacecraft.

Due to the presence of a magnetic field, charged particles from the Sun are captured by the magnetosphere and form radiation belts. These charged particles move along magnetic force field lines and collide with the planet's atmosphere. The mechanism for the occurrence of auroras is similar to that of Earth, but due to the different composition of the atmosphere, auroras on the giant are purple in color, in contrast to green ones on Earth.

Saturn's aurora as seen by the Hubble telescope

Gallery of aurora images

Nearest neighbors

What is the closest planet to Saturn? It depends on where in the orbit it is currently located, as well as the position of other planets.

For most of the orbit, the nearest planet is . When Saturn and Jupiter are at their minimum distance from each other, they are separated by only 655,000,000 km.

When they are located on opposite sides of each other, the planets Saturn sometimes come very close to each other and at this moment they are separated by 1.43 billion km from each other.

General information

The following planetary facts are based on NASA planetary fact sheets.

Weight - 568.46 x 10*24 kg

Volume: 82,713 x 10*10 km3

Average radius: 58232 km

Average diameter: 116,464 km

Density: 0.687 g/cm3

First escape velocity: 35.5 km/s

Gravity acceleration: 10.44 m/s2

Natural satellites: 62

Distance from the Sun (orbital semimajor axis): 1.43353 billion km

Orbital period: 10,759.22 days

Perihelion: 1.35255 billion km

Aphelion: 1.5145 billion km

Orbital speed: 9.69 km/s

Orbital inclination: 2.485 degrees

Orbital eccentricity: 0.0565

Stellar rotation period: 10.656 hours

Rotation period around the axis: 10.656 hours

Axial tilt: 26.73°

Who discovered it: it has been known since prehistoric times

Minimum distance from Earth: 1.1955 billion km

Maximum distance from Earth: 1.6585 billion km

Maximum apparent diameter from Earth: 20.1 arcseconds

Minimum apparent diameter from Earth: 14.5 arcseconds

Visible magnitude (maximum): 0.43 magnitude

Story

Space image taken by the Hubble telescope

The planet is clearly visible to the naked eye, so it is difficult to say when the planet was first discovered. Why is the planet called Saturn? It is named after the Roman god of the harvest - this god corresponds to the Greek god Kronos. That is why the origin of the name is Roman.

Galileo

Saturn and its rings were a mystery until Galileo first built his primitive but working telescope and looked at the planet in 1610. Of course, Galileo did not understand what he was seeing and thought that the rings were large satellites on either side of the planet. That was until Christiaan Huygens used a better telescope to see that they weren't actually moons, but rings. Huygens was also the first to discover the largest moon Titan. Despite the fact that the planet's visibility allows it to be observed from almost everywhere, its satellites, like its rings, are visible only through a telescope.

Jean Dominique Cassini

He discovered a gap in the rings, later named Cassini, and was the first to discover the planet's 4 moons: Iapetus, Rhea, Tethys and Dione.

William Herschel

In 1789, astronomer William Herschel discovered two more moons - Mimas and Enceladus. And in 1848, British scientists discovered a satellite called Hyperion.

Before the flight of spacecraft to the planet, we did not know much about it, despite the fact that the planet can be seen even with the naked eye. In the 70s and 80s, NASA launched the Pioneer 11 spacecraft, which became the first spacecraft to visit Saturn, passing within 20,000 km of the planet's cloud layer. It was followed by the launches of Voyager 1 in 1980, and Voyager 2 in August 1981.

In July 2004, NASA's Cassini probe arrived in the Saturn system, and based on its observations, compiled the most detailed description of the planet Saturn and its system. Cassini performed nearly 100 flybys of Titan's moon, several flybys of many other moons, and sent us back thousands of images of the planet and its moons. Cassini discovered 4 new moons, a new ring, and discovered seas of liquid hydrocarbons on Titan.

Extended animation of Cassini's flight through the Saturn system

Rings

They consist of ice particles orbiting the planet. There are several main rings that are clearly visible from Earth, and astronomers use special designations for each of Saturn's rings. But how many rings does the planet Saturn really have?

Rings: view from Cassini

Let's try to answer this question. The rings themselves are divided into the following parts. The two densest parts of the ring are designated as A and B, they are separated by the Cassini gap, followed by the C ring. After the 3 main rings, there are smaller dust rings: D, G, E, as well as the F ring, which is the outermost . So how many main rings? That's right - 8!

These three main rings and 5 dust rings make up the bulk. But there are several more rings, for example Janus, Meton, Pallene, as well as the arc of the Anfa ring.

There are also smaller rings and gaps in various rings that are difficult to count (for example, the Encke gap, Huygens gap, Dawes gap and many others). Further observation of the rings will make it possible to clarify their parameters and quantity.

Disappearing Rings

Due to the inclination of the planet's orbit, the rings become edge-on visible every 14-15 years, and due to the fact that they are very thin, they actually disappear from the field of view of Earthly observers. In 1612, Galileo noticed that the satellites he had discovered had disappeared somewhere. The situation was so strange that Galileo even abandoned observations of the planet (most likely as a result of the collapse of hopes!). He had discovered the rings (and mistook them for moons) two years earlier and was instantly fascinated by them.

Ring options

The planet is sometimes called the “jewel of the solar system” because its ring system looks like a corona. These rings are made of dust, rock and ice. That's why the rings don't fall apart, because... it is not solid, but consists of billions of particles. Some of the material in the ring system is the size of grains of sand, and some objects are larger than high-rise buildings, reaching a kilometer across. What are the rings made of? Mostly ice particles, although there are also dust rings. What is striking is that each ring rotates at a different speed relative to the planet. The average density of the planet's rings is so low that stars can be seen through them.

Saturn is not the only planet with a ring system. All gas giants have rings. Saturn's rings stand out because they are the largest and brightest. The rings are approximately one kilometer thick and span up to 482,000 km from the planet's center.

The names of Saturn's rings are listed in alphabetical order according to the order in which they were discovered. This makes the rings a little confusing, listing them out of order from the planet. Below is a list of the main rings and the spaces between them, as well as the distance from the center of the planet and their width.

Sounds of rings

In this wonderful video you hear the sounds of the planet Saturn, which are the planet's radio emissions translated into sound. Kilometer-range radio emissions are generated along with auroras on the planet.

Cassini's plasma spectrometer made high-resolution measurements, allowing scientists to convert radio waves into audio by shifting the frequency.

The appearance of rings

How did the rings come about? The simplest answer to why the planet has rings and what they are made of is that the planet has accumulated a lot of dust and ice at various distances from itself. These elements were most likely captured by gravity. Although some believe that they were formed as a result of the destruction of a small satellite, which came too close to the planet and fell into the Roche limit, as a result of which it was torn into pieces by the planet itself.

Some scientists suggest that all the material in the rings is the product of collisions between satellites and asteroids or comets. After the collision, the remnants of the asteroids were able to escape the gravitational pull of the planet and formed rings.

Regardless of which of these versions is correct, the rings are quite impressive. In fact, Saturn is the lord of the rings. After studying the rings, it is necessary to study the ring systems of other planets: Neptune, Uranus and Jupiter. Each of these systems is weaker, but still interesting in its own way.

Gallery of ring pictures

Life on Saturn

It's hard to imagine a planet less hospitable for life than Saturn. The planet is composed almost entirely of hydrogen and helium, with trace amounts of water ice in the lower clouds. Temperatures at the top of the clouds can drop to -150 C.

As you descend into the atmosphere, the pressure and temperature will increase. If the temperature is warm enough that the water does not freeze, then the atmospheric pressure at that level is the same as several kilometers below Earth's oceans.

Life on the planet's satellites

To find life, scientists suggest looking at the planet's satellites. They are composed of significant amounts of water ice, and their gravitational interaction with Saturn likely keeps their insides warm. The moon Enceladus is known to have geysers of water on its surface that erupt almost continuously. It is quite possible that it has huge reserves of warm water under its icy crust (almost like Europa).

Another moon, Titan, has lakes and seas of liquid hydrocarbons and is considered a place that could eventually create life. Astronomers believe that Titan is very similar in composition to Earth in its early history. After the Sun turns into a red dwarf (in 4-5 billion years), the temperature on the satellite will become favorable for the origin and maintenance of life, and a large amount of hydrocarbons, including complex ones, will be the primary “soup”.

Position in the sky

Saturn and its six moons, amateur photo

Saturn is visible in the sky as a fairly bright star. It is best to check the current coordinates of the planet in specialized planetarium programs, for example Stellarium, and events related to its coverage or passage over a particular region, as well as everything about the planet Saturn, can be seen in the article 100 astronomical events of the year. The opposition of a planet always provides a chance to look at it in maximum detail.

Upcoming confrontations

Knowing the ephemeris of the planet and its magnitude, finding Saturn in the starry sky will not be difficult. However, if you have little experience, then searching for it may take a long time, so we recommend using amateur telescopes with a Go-To mount. Use a telescope with a Go-To mount, and you won't need to know the planet's coordinates or where it can currently be seen.

Flight to the planet

How long will the space journey to Saturn take? Depending on which route you choose, the flight may take a different amount of time.

For example: It took Pioneer 11 six and a half years to reach the planet. Voyager 1 arrived in three years and two months, Voyager 2 took four years, and the Cassini spacecraft took six years and nine months! The New Horizons spacecraft used Saturn as a gravitational springboard on its way to Pluto, arriving two years and four months after launch. Why is there such a huge difference in flight times?

The first factor determining flight time

Let's consider whether the spacecraft is launched directly towards Saturn or does it use other celestial bodies as a slingshot along the way?

The second factor determining flight time

This is a type of spacecraft engine, and the third factor is whether we are going to fly past the planet or enter its orbit.

With these factors in mind, let's look at the missions mentioned above. Pioneer 11 and Cassini used the gravitational influence of other planets before heading towards Saturn. These flybys of other bodies added extra years to an already long trip. Voyager 1 and 2 used only Jupiter on their way to Saturn and arrived much faster. The New Horizons ship had several distinct advantages over all other probes. The two main advantages are that it has the fastest and most advanced engine and was launched on a short trajectory to Saturn on its way to Pluto.

Research stages

Panoramic photograph of Saturn taken on July 19, 2013 by the Cassini spacecraft. In the sparse ring on the left, the white dot is Enceladus. The ground is visible below and to the right of the center of the image.

In 1979, the first spacecraft reached the giant planet.

Pioneer-11

Created in 1973, Pioneer 11 flew by Jupiter and used the planet's gravity to change its trajectory and head toward Saturn. It arrived on September 1, 1979, passing 22,000 km above the planet's cloud layer. For the first time in history, he conducted close-up studies of Saturn and transmitted close-up photographs of the planet, discovering a previously unknown ring.

Voyager 1

NASA's Voyager 1 probe was the next spacecraft to visit the planet on November 12, 1980. It flew 124,000 km from the planet's cloud layer, and sent a stream of truly priceless photographs back to Earth. They decided to send Voyager 1 to fly around the satellite of Titan, and send its twin brother Voyager 2 to other giant planets. In the end, it turned out that although the device transmitted a lot of scientific information, it did not see the surface of Titan, since it is opaque to visible light. Therefore, in fact, the ship was sacrificed for the sake of the largest satellite, on which scientists had high hopes, and in the end they saw an orange ball, without any details.

Voyager 2

Shortly after Voyager 1's flyby, Voyager 2 flew into the Saturn system and carried out an almost identical program. It reached the planet on August 26, 1981. In addition to the fact that it orbited the planet at a distance of 100,800 km, it flew close to Enceladus, Tethys, Hyperion, Iapetus, Phoebe and a number of other moons. Voyager 2, receiving gravitational acceleration from the planet, headed towards Uranus (successful flyby in 1986) and Neptune (successful flyby in 1989), after which it continued its journey to the boundaries of the Solar System.

Cassini-Huygens

Views of Saturn from Cassini

NASA's Cassini-Huygens probe, which arrived at the planet in 2004, was able to truly study the planet from a permanent orbit. As part of its mission, the spacecraft delivered the Huygens probe to the surface of Titan.

TOP 10 images of Cassini

Cassini has now completed its main mission and continues to study the system of Saturn and its moons for many years. Among his discoveries are the discovery of geysers on Enceladus, seas and lakes of hydrocarbons on Titan, new rings and moons, as well as data and photographs from the surface of Titan. Scientists plan to end the Cassini mission in 2017, due to cuts in NASA's budget for planetary exploration.

Future missions

The next Titan Saturn System Mission (TSSM) should not be expected until 2020, but rather much later. Using gravitational maneuvers near Earth and Venus, this device will be able to reach Saturn approximately in 2029.

A four-year flight plan is envisaged, in which 2 years are allocated for exploring the planet itself, 2 months for exploring the surface of Titan, which will involve a lander, and 20 months for studying the satellite from orbit. Russia may also take part in this truly grandiose project. The future participation of the federal agency Roscosmos is already being discussed. While this mission is far from being realized, we still have the opportunity to enjoy the fantastic images of Cassini, which it transmits regularly and to which everyone has access just a few days after their transmission to Earth. Happy exploration of Saturn!

Answers to the most common questions

1. Who was the planet Saturn named after? In honor of the Roman god of fertility.
2. When was Saturn discovered? It has been known since ancient times, and it is impossible to determine who first identified it as a planet.
3. How far is Saturn from the Sun? The average distance from the Sun is 1.43 billion km, or 9.58 AU.
4. How to find it in the sky? It is best to use search maps and specialized software, such as the Stellarium program.
5. What are the coordinates of the planeta? Since this is a planet, its coordinates change; you can find out the ephemeris of Saturn on specialized astronomical resources.

General information about Saturn

© Vladimir Kalanov,
website"Knowledge is power".

Saturn is the sixth largest planet in the solar system in terms of distance from the Sun and the second largest planet in the solar system after Jupiter. Saturn is the farthest planet that can still be seen with the naked eye. The planet has been known since prehistoric times.

View of Saturn
in natural colors

View of Saturn
in conventional colors

The average distance of Saturn from the Sun is 1427 million km (minimum - 1347, maximum - 1507). Through a telescope or even good binoculars, the color of the planet's disk appears bright yellowish. The rings of Saturn create a special beauty and spectacular spectacle. But you can’t admire the beauty of rings every day for reasons that we will discuss below. A characteristic feature of Saturn is the very low average density of its matter. This is not surprising: most of the planet’s volume is gas, or more precisely, a mixture of gases.

Saturn is similar to Jupiter, as they say, both in form and content. Saturn is noticeably flattened along the axis of the poles: the diameter of the equator (120,000 km) is 10% larger than the diameter at the poles (108,000 km). For Jupiter this figure is 6%.

The period of rotation of the equatorial region around the axis of the planet is 10 hours 13 minutes. 23 p. Although Saturn rotates on its axis more slowly than Jupiter, it is more flattened. This is explained by the fact that Saturn has less mass and density than Jupiter.

Interestingly, the period of rotation around its axis of Saturn, a planet known since time immemorial, was calculated only at the end of 1800. This was done by the great English scientist of German origin, William Herschel (Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel). According to his calculations, the rotation period of Saturn is 10 hours 16 minutes. As we can see, Herschel was not mistaken at all.

Compared to the Earth, Saturn, of course, looks like a giant: the diameter of its equator is almost 10 times larger than the Earth’s. The mass of Saturn is 95 times the mass of the Earth, but since the average density of Saturn is insignificant (about 0.7 g/cm³), the gravitational force on it is almost the same as on Earth.

The average speed of Saturn's orbit around the Sun is 9.6 km/s, which is significantly lower than the orbital speed of Jupiter. This is understandable: the further a planet is from the Sun, the lower its speed. And Saturn is removed from the Sun at a distance of an average of 1427 million kilometers, which is almost twice the distance of Jupiter from the Sun (778.3 million km).

Internal structure of Saturn

Astronomers believe that the internal structure of Saturn is almost no different from that of Jupiter. At the center of Saturn there is a huge silicate-metallic core, the radius of which is about 0.25 of the radius of the planet. At a depth of approximately ½ the radius of Saturn, i.e. about 30,000 km. the temperature rises to 10,000°C, and the pressure reaches 3 million atmospheres. The core operates at even higher pressures, and temperatures can reach 20,000°C. It is in the core that there is a source of heat that warms the entire planet. Saturn, according to calculations, emits twice as much heat as it receives from the Sun.

Saturn's core is surrounded by hydrogen, which is in the so-called metallic state, i.e. in a liquid aggregate state, but with metallic properties. In this state, hydrogen has high electrical conductivity, because electrons lose their connection with atoms and move freely in the surrounding volume of matter. The importance of terminological clarity in any science is very high. Let the readers evaluate how successful our attempt to reveal here the content of the term “metallic hydrogen”, often found in the literature, turned out to be.

However, let's continue the story about the structure of Saturn. Above the metallic hydrogen, closer to the surface, there is a layer of liquid molecular hydrogen, which passes into the gas phase adjacent to the atmosphere. The composition of the atmosphere is as follows: hydrogen (94%), helium (3%), methane (0.4%), ammonia, acetylene and ethane are present in small quantities. Overall, Saturn is believed to be almost 90% hydrogen and helium, with a huge predominance of the former.

© Vladimir Kalanov,
"Knowledge is power"

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