Saturn: Solar System’s Fiancé

Saturn Bio/Facts

Diameter: 116,464 km

Relative Mass (Earth = 1): 95.2

Density (kg/m3): 700

Distance from Sun (AU): 9.58

Length of Day: 10.7 hours

Length of Year: 10,747 days

Mean Temp: -220⁰F

Atmosphere

• Mostly Hydrogen and Helium with some ammonia ice near the cloud tops

• Similar structure to Jupiter

Moons

• Saturn has over 60 moons including the giant moon Titan (bigger than Mercury) and Enceladus, which has indications of geologic activity

Titan• Thick atmosphere of Nitrogen

and methane • Due to pressure and temp,

methane lakes present

Enceladus• Icy moon that has shown signs

of activity with jet plumes of ice and water ejected from surface

Rings

• Made up of pieces of ice (microscopic to house-sized chuck)

• Thin, only 200 m thick and will not form moon because they are too close to planet (all moons outside of rings)

Video Refuel

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS9D9CzwPQU