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 moonPan and Atlas: Shaped like flying saucersLapetus: 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 RingsMade of billions of ice

particlesRanging 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.

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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-ring-bearer.html>.

"Saturn." Views of the Solar System. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://www.solarviews.com/eng/saturn.htm>.