Saturn, in astronomy: Astronomical and Physical Characteristics of Saturn

Saturn's orbit lies between those of Jupiter and Uranus; its mean distance from the sun is c.886 million mi (1.43 billion km), almost twice that of Jupiter, and its period of revolution is about 291⁄2 years. Saturn appears in the sky as a yellow, starlike object of the first magnitude. When viewed through a telescope, it is seen as a golden sphere, crossed by a series of lightly colored bands parallel to the equator.

Saturn, a gas giant like Jupiter, is covered with a thick atmosphere composed mainly of hydrogen and helium, with some methane and ammonia; its temperature is believed to be about −270℉ (−168℃), suggesting that the ammonia is in the form of ice crystals that constitute the clouds. Like Jupiter's interior, Saturn's consists of a rocky core, a liquid metallic hydrogen layer, and a molecular hydrogen layer. Traces of various ices have also been detected. The wind blows at high speeds—reaching velocities of 1,100 mph (1,770 kph)—across Saturn. The strongest winds are found near the equator and blow mostly in an easterly direction. At higher latitudes, the velocity decreases uniformly and the winds counterflow east and west. Because no permanent markings on the planet are visible, the planet's exact period of rotation has not been determined. However, the period of each atmospheric band varies from 10 hr 14 min at the equator to about 10 hr 38 min at higher latitudes. This rapid rotation causes the largest polar flattening among the planets (over 10%). Saturn is the second largest planet in the solar system; its equatorial diameter is c.75,000 mi (120,000 km), and its volume is more than 700 times the volume of the earth. Its mass is about 95 times that of the earth, making Saturn the only planet in the solar system with a density less than that of water. Saturn has been encountered by four space probe missions: Pioneer 11 (1979), Voyager 1 (1980), Voyager 2 (1981), and Cassini and Huygens (2004–17). Among the discoveries made by the Voyager probes was a magnetosphere (a region of charged particles consisting primarily of electrons, protons, and heavy ions captured partly from the atmosphere of the satellite Titan) that encloses 13 of Saturn's satellites and its ring system. Huygens landed on Saturn's moon Titan in 2005 and returned photographs of its surface.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• The Satellite System
• The Ring System
• Astronomical and Physical Characteristics of Saturn

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