Saturn

Basic Facts  6 th planet from the Sun—9.5 A.U.  8.84 billion miles from Sun  2 nd Largest planet—72,000 miles in diameter

Surface Features/Appearance  Gas Giant  Made up of mostly Hydrogen, with some Helium and Methane  Interior may be rocky/ice  Surrounded by rings at equator  Wide, flat bands made of ice, rocks and gas  Rainbow colored  Contain shepard moons

Surface Features cont…  Oblate Spheroid  Spins fastest along equator  Strong magnetic field (similar to Jupiter)  Average temperature = -364 °F  Contains extreme lightning (1000x Earth)

Surface Features cont…  Extremely low density (lowest of all planets)  Density = 0.7 g/ml  Saturn is tilted at 27 degrees, causing seasons  Radiates more energy than it receives from the Sun

Behavior and Moons  Rotation = 10.5 hours  Revolution = 29.5 years  Satellites= 62 confirmed, 53 with names  Most of the moons are less than 30 miles in diameter

Miscellaneous  Named for the God of Agriculture  First fly-by: 1979 Pioneer  Explored by Space Probe Cassini—2004  As of November 2009 it has completed 74 orbits around Saturn

Moons  Largest Moon: Titan  Diameter: 3090 miles  Has a dense atmosphere  Composed of nitrogen, methane and ethane  Slightly smaller than Ganymede  Orbits Saturn once every 15 days  Huygens probe landed on Titan in 12/2004