Saturn
By: Zack and Kacey
Some Facts.
 Sixth planet from the Sun
 Second largest planet, after Jupiter
 Named after Roman God ‘Saturn’
 God of agriculture
 Famous for its rings
 Gas giant made up mostly of hydrogen and helium
 Lowest density of all the planets
More and more.
 Diameter: 120,660 km.
 About 10 times larger than Earth
 Temperature: -178 degrees C
 Distance from Earth: 1190.4 million km
 Rotation of its axis: 10 hours, 40 min.
 Rotation around the Sun: 29.5 Earth years
Continued.
 Has at least 62 moons
 Titan: Largest moon
 Pan and Atlas: Shaped like flying saucers
 Lapetus: Has one side as bright as snow and one side as
dark as coal
 Enceladus: shows evidence of "ice volcanism" spewing out
water and other chemicals
Space Probes
 1970s: NASA’s Pioneer 11 flyby visited Saturn
 1980-81: visited again by Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft
 1997: Cassini spacecraft launched
 July 2004: Cassini arrived on Saturn
Saturn’s Rings
 Made of billions of ice
particles
 Ranging from a few cm. to
a few m. in size
 Thought that rings formed
from larger moons that
were shattered by impacts
of comets and meteoroids
 Structure of rings due to
gravitational effect of
nearby satellites
Rotation
 Saturn rotates faster than
any other planet except
Jupiter
 Causes Saturn to bulge at
equator and flatten at poles
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Gravity
 Gravity on Saturn is about
1.08 times the gravity on
Earth
 If you weigh 100 lbs on
Earth you would weigh abut
108 lbs on Saturn
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Current Fact
 In search of a better understanding about Saturn’s rings,
On Tuesday Jan. 11th the Cassini spacecraft passed
within 69 kilometers (43 miles) of the surface of Rhea,
which is Saturn’s icy moon.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Summary
 Second largest planet, after Jupiter
 Lowest density of all the planets
 Gravity on Saturn is about 1.08 times the gravity on
Earth
 On Tuesday Jan. 11th the Cassini spacecraft passed
within 69 kilometers (43 miles) of the surface of Rhea
VIDEO
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8QcSC7PAQE
Works Cited
 The Planet Saturn." Space Projects - Space Information - Space Shop.
Web. 20 Jan. 2011.
<http://www.aerospaceguide.net/planetsaturn.html>.
 "Saturn L Saturn Facts, Pictures and Information." The Nine Planets
Solar System Tour. Web. 20 Jan. 2011.
<http://nineplanets.org/saturn.html>.
 "Saturn, Sixth Planet from Sun & Second Largest in Solar System | Gas
Giant, Saturn’s Rings, Jovian Planet | Space.com." Space, NASA
Information & News | Outer Space Flight Videos & Pictures | Astronomy,
Solar System Images | Space.com. Web. 20 Jan. 2011.
<http://www.space.com/48-saturn-the-solar-systems-major-ringbearer.html>.
 "Saturn." Views of the Solar System. Web. 20 Jan. 2011.
<http://www.solarviews.com/eng/saturn.htm>.