Saturn- a planet of the solar system with rings: size, mass, orbit, composition, surface, satellites, atmosphere, temperature, research by devices with photos.

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and perhaps the most beautiful object in the solar system.

This is the most distant planet from a star that can be found without the use of instruments. So its existence has been known for a long time. Before you is one of the four gas giants, located 6th in order from the Sun. You will be curious to know what planet Saturn is, but first, get acquainted with interesting facts about the planet Saturn.

Interesting facts about the planet Saturn

Can be found without tools

• Saturn is the 5th brightest planet in the solar system, so you can see it with binoculars or a telescope.

He was seen by ancient people

• The Babylonians and the inhabitants of the far east watched him. Named after the Roman Titan (similar to the Greek Kronos).

The flattest planet

• The polar diameter covers 90% of the equatorial one, which is based on a low density index and rapid rotation. The planet performs an axial rotation every 10 hours and 34 minutes.

A year is 29.4 years long

• The ancient Assyrians, because of the slowness, nicknamed the planet "Lubadshagush" - "the oldest of the oldest."

There are bands in the upper atmosphere

• The composition of the upper layers of the atmosphere is represented by ammonia ice. Below them are water clouds, and then there are cold mixtures of hydrogen and sulfur.

There are oval storms

• The area above the north pole took on a hexagonal shape (hexagon). Researchers believe that this may be a wave pattern in the upper clouds. There is also a vortex over the south pole that resembles a hurricane.

The planet is represented mainly by hydrogen

• The planet is divided into layers that penetrate Saturn more densely. At great depths, hydrogen becomes metallic. At the heart of the hot interior.

Endowed with the most beautiful ring system

• The rings of Saturn are made of ice fragments and a small admixture of carbonaceous dust. They stretch for 120,700 km, but are incredibly thin - 20 m.

The lunar family includes 62 satellites

• Saturn's moons are icy worlds. The largest are Titan and Rhea. Enceladus may have a subsurface ocean.

Titan has a complex nitrogen atmosphere

• Consists of ice and stone. The frozen surface layer is endowed with lakes of liquid methane and landscapes covered with frozen nitrogen. Can have life.

Sent 4 missions

• These are Pioneer 11, Voyager 1 and 2 and Cassini-Huygens.

Size, mass and orbit of the planet Saturn

The average radius of Saturn is 58232 km (equatorial - 60268 km, and polar - 54364 km), which is 9.13 times larger than the earth's. With a mass of 5.6846 × 10 26 kg and a surface area of ​​4.27 × 10 10 km 2 , its volume reaches 8.2713 × 10 14 km 3 .

polar contraction	0.097 96 ± 0.000 18
Equatorial	60,268 ± 4 km
Polar radius	54 36 ± 10 km
Surface area	4.27 10 10 km²
Volume	8.27 10 14 km³
Weight	5.68 10 26 kg 95 terrestrial
Average density	0.687 g/cm³
Acceleration free fall at the equator	10.44 m/s²
Second space velocity	35.5 km/s
equatorial speed rotation	9.87 km/s
Rotation period	10h 34min 13s ± 2s
Axis Tilt	26.73°
declination of the north pole	83.537°
Albedo	0.342 (Bond)
Apparent magnitude	from +1.47 to -0.24
Absolute stellar magnitude	0,3
Angular diameter	9%

The distance from the Sun to the planet Saturn is 1.4 billion km. At the same time, the maximum distance reaches 1,513,783 km, and the minimum - 1,353,600 km.

The average orbital speed reaches 9.69 km / s, and Saturn spends 10759 days to pass around the star. It turns out that one year on Saturn lasts 29.5 Earth years. But here the situation with Jupiter is repeated, where the rotation of the regions occurs at different speeds. The shape of Saturn resembles an oblate spheroid.

The composition and surface of the planet Saturn

You already know which planet Saturn is. It is a gas giant represented by hydrogen and gas. The average density of 0.687 g / cm 3 is surprising. That is, if you place Saturn in a huge reservoir, the planet will remain afloat. It has no surface, but has a dense core. The fact is that heating, density and pressure increase with the proximity to the core. The structure is explained in detail in the bottom photo of Saturn.

Scientists believe that Saturn resembles Jupiter in structure: a rocky core around which hydrogen and helium are concentrated with a small admixture of volatile substances. The composition of the core may resemble that of the Earth, but with an increased density due to the presence of metallic hydrogen.

Inside the planet, the temperature rises to 11,700°C, and the amount of energy radiated is 2.5 times what it receives from the Sun. In a sense, this is due to the slow gravitational contraction of the Kelvin-Helmholtz. Or it's all about rising droplets of helium from the depths into the hydrogen layer. In this case, heat is released and helium is taken away from the outer layers.

Calculations in 2004 say that the core should be 9-22 times larger than the earth's mass, and the diameter should be 25,000 km. It is surrounded by a dense layer of liquid metallic hydrogen followed by helium-saturated molecular hydrogen. The outermost layer extends for 1000 km and is represented by gas.

Satellites of the planet Saturn

Saturn boasts 150 moons, of which only 53 have official names. Among them, in 34, the diameter does not reach 10 km, and 14 - from 10 to 50 km. But some inner satellites extend 250-5000 km.

Most of the satellites were named after the titans from the myths of ancient Greece. The innermost moons are endowed with slight orbital inclinations. But irregular satellites in the most separated areas are located millions of kilometers and can make a round in several years.

The interior includes Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys and Dione. They are represented by water ice and may have a rocky core, icy mantle and crust. The smallest is Mimas with a diameter of 396 km and a mass of 0.4 x 10 20 kg. The shape resembles an egg, it is 185.539 km away from the planet, which is why it takes 0.9 days to orbit the passage.

Enceladus with indicators of 504 km and 1.1 x 10 20 kg has a spherical speed. It takes 1.4 days to pass around the planet. It is one of the smallest spherical moons, but is endogenously and geologically active. This caused the appearance of parallel faults at the southern polar latitudes.

Large geysers were noticed in the south polar area. These jets serve as a source for replenishing the E ring. They are important because they can hint at the presence of life on Enceladus, because the water comes from the underground ocean. The albedo is 140%, so it is one of the brightest objects in the system. Below you can admire the photo of the satellites of Saturn.

With a diameter of 1066 km, Tethys is the second largest moon of Saturn. Most of the surface is represented by craters and hills, as well as a small number of plains. Distinguished crater Odysseus, stretching for 400 km. There is also a system of canyons that deepens by 3-5 km, stretches for 2000 km, and is 100 km wide.

The largest inner moon is Dione - 1112 km and 11 x 10 20 kg. Its surface is not only ancient, but also heavily damaged by impacts. Some craters reach a diameter of 250 km. There is also evidence of geological activity in the past.

The outer satellites are located outside the E-ring and are represented by water ice and rock. This is Rhea with a diameter of 1527 km and a mass of 23 x 10 20 kg. It is 527.108 km away from Saturn, and spends 4.5 days on an orbital passage. The surface is also littered with craters and several large faults are visible on the rear hemisphere. There are two large impact basins with a diameter of 400-500 km.

Titan extends for 5150 km, and its mass is 1.350 x 10 20 kg (96% of the mass of the orbit), which is why it is considered the largest satellite of Saturn. It is the only large moon with its own atmospheric layer. It is cold, dense, and holds nitrogen and methane. There are small amounts of hydrocarbons and ice crystals of methane.

The surface is difficult to see due to the dense atmospheric haze. Only a few crater formations, cryo-volcanoes and longitudinal dunes are visible. This is the only body in the system with methane-ethane lakes. Titan is 1,221,870 km away and is believed to have an underground ocean. It takes 16 days to go around the planet.

Hyperion lives near Titan. With a diameter of 270 km, it is inferior in size and mass to Mimas. This is an egg-shaped brown object that, due to the crater surface (2-10 km in diameter), resembles a sponge. There is no predictable rotation.

Iapetus extends for 1470 km, and in terms of mass it occupies 1.8 x 10 20 kg. This is the most distant moon, located at 3,560,820 km, which is why it takes 79 days to pass. It has an interesting composition because one side is dark and the other is lighter. Because of this, they are called yin and yang.

The Inuit include 5 moons named after Inuit mythology: Ijirak, Kiviok, Paliak, Ciarnak and Tarkek. Their prograde orbits range from 11.1-17.9 million km, and their diameter is 7-40 km. Orbital inclinations are 45-50°.

Gallic family - outer satellites: Albiorix, Befin, Erripo and Tarvos. Their orbits are 16-19 million km, the inclination is from 35° to -40°, the diameter is 6-32 km, and the eccentricity is 0.53.

There is a Scandinavian group - 29 retrograde moons. Their diameter is 6-18 km, distance is 12-24 million km, inclination is 136-175°, and eccentricity is 0.13-0.77. Sometimes they are called the Thebes family in honor of the largest satellite, stretching for 240 km. Then follows Ymir - 18 km.

Between the inner and outer moons lives a group of Alcoinids: Methon, Anfa and Pallene. They are the smallest moons of Saturn. Some large moons have their own small ones. So Tethys has Telesto and Calypso, and Dion has Helena and Polydeuces.

Atmosphere and temperature of the planet Saturn

Saturn's outer atmosphere is 96.3% molecular hydrogen and 3.25% helium. There are also heavier elements, but there is little information about their proportions. Propane, ammonia, methane, acetylene, ethane and phosphine were found in small quantities. The upper cloud cover is represented by ammonia crystals, and the lower cloud cover is represented by ammonium hydrosulfide or water. UV rays lead to metaline photolysis, which causes chemical reactions of the hydrocarbon.

The atmosphere looks striated, but the lines weaken and widen towards the equator. There is a division into upper and lower layers, differing in composition based on pressure and depth. The upper ones are represented by ammonia ice, where the pressure is 0.5–2 bar and the temperature is 100–160 K.

At a pressure level of 2.5 bar, a line of ice clouds begins, which stretches to 9.5 bar, and heating is 185-270 K. Here, ammonium hydrosulfide bands mix at a pressure of 3-6 bar and a temperature of 290-235 K. The lower layer is represented by ammonia in an aqueous solution with indicators of 10-20 bar and 270-330 K.

Sometimes long-period ovals form in the atmosphere. The most famous is the Great White Spot. Created every Saturnian year at the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere.

Spots wide can stretch for several thousand km and were noted in 1876, 1903, 1933, 1960 and 1990. Since 2010, the "northern electrostatic disturbance" noticed by Cassini has been monitored. If these clouds adhere to periodicity, then next time we will note the appearance in 2020.

In terms of wind speed, the planet is in second place after Neptune. Voyager recorded an indicator of 500 m / s. A hexagonal wave is noticeable at the north pole, and a massive jet stream is visible at the south pole.

For the first time, the hexagon was seen in the photographs of Voyager. Its sides extend for 13,800 km (larger than Earth's diameter), and the structure rotates in 10 hours, 39 minutes and 24 seconds. The south pole vortex was observed with the Hubble telescope. There is a wind with an acceleration of 550 km / h, and the storm is similar in size to our planet.

Rings of the planet Saturn

It is believed that these are old rings and could have formed along with the planet. There are two theories. One says that earlier the rings were a satellite that collapsed due to a close approach to the planet. Or the rings were never part of the satellite, but are a remnant of the nebular material from which Saturn itself emerged.

They are divided into 7 rings, between which a gap is established. A and B are the densest and cover 14,600 and 25,300 km in diameter. They extend 92000-117580 km (B) and 122170-136775 km (A) from the center. The Cassini Division occupies 4,700 km.

C is separated from B by 64 km. It occupies a width of 17,500 km, and is removed from the planet by 74,658-92,000 km. Together with A and B, it contains the main rings with larger particles. Next come dusty rings, because they have small particles.

D occupies 7500 km and extends inward for 66900-75510 km. At the other end are G (9000 km and a distance of 166,000-175,000 km) and E (300,000 km and a distance of 166,000-480,000 km). F is located on the outer edge of A and is harder to classify. Mostly it's dust. It covers 30-500 km in width and extends for 140-180 km from the center.

History of the study of the planet Saturn

Saturn can be found without the use of telescopes, so it was seen by ancient people. Mentions are found in legends and mythology. The earliest records belong to Babylon, where the planet was recorded with reference to the sign of the zodiac.

The ancient Greeks called this giant Kronos, who was the god of agriculture and was the youngest of the titans. Ptolemy was able to calculate the orbital passage of Saturn when the planet was in opposition. In Rome, they used the Greek tradition and gave today's name.

In ancient Hebrew, the planet was called Shabbatai, and in the Ottoman Empire, Zuhal. Hindus have Shani, who judges everyone, evaluating good and bad deeds. The Chinese and Japanese called it the earth star, considering it one of the elements.

But the planet was observed only in 1610, when Galileo saw it through his telescope and the rings were discovered. But the scientist thought that these were two satellites. Only Christian Huygens corrected the mistake. He also found Titan, and Giovanni Cassini found Iapetus, Rhea, Tethys and Dione.

The next important step was taken by William Herschel in 1789, when he found Mimas and Enceladus. And in 1848, Hyperion appears.

Drawing of Saturn by Robert Hooke (1666)

Phoebus was found in 1899 by William Pickering, who guessed that the satellite has an irregular orbit and rotates synchronously with the planet. In the 20th century, it became clear that Titan had a thick atmosphere that had not been seen before. The planet Saturn is an interesting object for research. On our website you can study his photo, watch a video about the planet and learn many more interesting facts. Below is a map of Saturn.

Click on the image to enlarge it

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The starry sky has always attracted romantics, poets, artists and lovers with its beauty. Since time immemorial, people have admired the scattering of stars and attributed to them special magical properties.

Ancient astrologers, for example, were able to draw a parallel between the date of birth of a person and the star that shone brightly at that moment. It was believed that it can influence not only the totality of the character traits of a newborn, but also his entire future fate. Stargazing helped farmers determine the best date for sowing and harvesting. It can be said that much in the life of ancient people was subject to the influence of stars and planets, so it is not surprising that mankind has been trying to study the planets closest to the Earth for more than one century.

Many of them are currently quite well studied, but some can present scientists with many surprises. To such planets, astronomers, in the first place, include Saturn. A description of this gas giant can be found in any textbook on astronomy. However, scientists themselves believe that this is one of the most poorly understood planets, all the mysteries and secrets of which humanity is not even able to list yet.

Today you will receive the most detailed information about Saturn. The mass of the gas giant, its size, description and comparative characteristics with the Earth - you can learn all this from this article. Perhaps you will hear some facts for the first time, and something will seem simply incredible to you.

Ancient conceptions of Saturn

Our ancestors could not accurately calculate the mass of Saturn and characterize it, but they definitely understood how majestic this planet was and even worshiped it. Historians believe that Saturn, which belongs to one of the five planets that are perfectly distinguishable from Earth with the naked eye, has been known to people for a very long time. It got its name in honor of the god of fertility and agriculture. This deity was highly revered among the Greeks and Romans, but in the future the attitude towards him changed slightly.

The fact is that the Greeks began to associate Saturn with Kronos. This titan was very bloodthirsty and even devoured his own children. Therefore, he was treated without due respect and with some apprehension. But the Romans revered Saturn very much and even considered him a god who gave humanity many of the knowledge necessary for life. It was the god of agriculture who taught ignorant people to build living quarters and save the grown crop until the next year. In gratitude to Saturn, the Romans held real holidays lasting several days. During this period, even slaves could forget about their insignificant position and fully feel like free people.

It is noteworthy that in many ancient cultures, Saturn, which scientists were able to characterize only after millennia, was associated with strong deities who confidently control the destinies of people in many worlds. Modern historians often think that ancient civilizations could have known much more about this giant planet than we do today. Perhaps other knowledge was available to them, and we just have to, throwing away dry statistical data, penetrate into the secrets of Saturn.

Brief description of the planet

In a few words, it is quite difficult to tell which planet Saturn really is. Therefore, in the current section, we will give the reader all the known data that will help to form some idea about this amazing celestial body.

Saturn is the sixth planet in our native solar system. Since it mainly consists of gases, it is classified as a gas giant. Jupiter is usually called the closest "relative" of Saturn, but besides it, Uranus and Neptune can also be added to this group. It is noteworthy that all gaseous planets can be proud of their rings, but only Saturn has them in such quantity that it allows you to see its majestic "belt" even from Earth. Modern astronomers rightly consider it the most beautiful and bewitching planet. After all, the rings of Saturn (what this magnificence consists of, we will tell in one of the following sections of the article) almost constantly change their color and each time their photo surprises with new shades. Therefore, the gas giant is one of the most recognizable among the other planets.

The mass of Saturn (5.68 × 10 26 kg) is extremely large compared to the Earth, we will talk about this a little later. But the diameter of the planet, which, according to the latest data, is more than one hundred and twenty thousand kilometers, confidently brings it to second place in the solar system. Only Jupiter, the leader in this list, can argue with Saturn.

The gas giant has its own atmosphere, magnetic fields and a huge number of satellites, which were gradually discovered by astronomers. Interestingly, the density of the planet is noticeably less than the density of water. Therefore, if your imagination allows you to imagine a huge pool filled with water, then be sure that Saturn will not drown in it. Like a huge inflatable ball, it will slowly slide over the surface.

Origin of the gas giant

Despite the fact that research on Saturn by spacecraft has been actively conducted over the past decades, scientists still cannot say for sure exactly how the planet was formed. To date, two main hypotheses have been put forward, which have their followers and opponents.

The Sun and Saturn are often compared in composition. Indeed, they contain a large concentration of hydrogen, which allowed some scientists to hypothesize that our star and the planets of the solar system were formed at almost the same time. Massive gas accumulations became the ancestors of Saturn and the Sun. However, none of the supporters of this theory can explain why, if I may say so, a planet was formed from the source material in one case, and a star in the other. The differences in their composition, too, no one can yet give a worthy explanation.

According to the second hypothesis, the process of formation of Saturn lasted hundreds of millions of years. Initially, there was the formation of solid particles, which gradually reached the mass of our Earth. However, at some point, the planet lost a large amount of gas, and at the second stage, it actively increased it from outer space by gravity.

Scientists hope that in the future they will be able to discover the secret of the formation of Saturn, but before that they still have many decades of waiting. After all, only the Cassini apparatus, which worked in its orbit for a long thirteen years, managed to get as close as possible to the planet. This autumn, he completed his mission, collecting for observers a huge amount of data that has yet to be processed.

planet orbit

Saturn and the Sun are separated by almost one and a half billion kilometers, so the planet does not get much light and heat from our main luminary. It is noteworthy that the gas giant rotates around the Sun in a slightly elongated orbit. However, in recent years, scientists have argued that almost all planets do this. Saturn makes a complete revolution in almost thirty years.

The planet spins extremely fast around its axis, it takes about ten Earth hours for a revolution. If we lived on Saturn, that is how long a day would last. Interestingly, scientists tried to calculate the full rotation of the planet around its axis several times. During this time, an error of approximately six minutes occurred, which is considered quite impressive in the framework of science. Some scientists attribute it to the inaccuracy of instruments, while others argue that over the years, our native Earth began to rotate more slowly, which allowed errors to form.

Planet structure

Since the size of Saturn is often compared with Jupiter, it is not surprising that the structures of these planets are very similar to each other. Scientists conditionally divide the gas giant into three layers, the center of which is a rocky core. It has a high density and is at least ten times more massive than the Earth's core. The second layer, where it is located, is liquid metallic hydrogen. Its thickness is approximately fourteen and a half thousand kilometers. The outer layer of the planet is molecular hydrogen, the thickness of this layer is measured in eighteen and a half thousand kilometers.

Scientists, studying the planet, found out one interesting fact - it emits two and a half times more radiation into outer space than it receives from the star. They tried to find a definite explanation for this phenomenon, drawing a parallel with Jupiter. However, until now, this remains another mystery of the planet, because the size of Saturn is smaller than its “brother”, which emits much more modest amounts of radiation into the outside world. Therefore, today such activity of the planet is explained by the friction of helium flows. But how viable this theory, scientists cannot say.

Planet Saturn: composition of the atmosphere

If you observe the planet through a telescope, it becomes noticeable that the color of Saturn has a somewhat muted pale orange hue. On its surface, stripe-like formations can be noted, which are often formed into bizarre shapes. However, they are not static and quickly transform.

When we talk about gaseous planets, it is rather difficult for the reader to understand exactly how the difference between the conditional surface and the atmosphere can be determined. Scientists also faced a similar problem, so it was decided to determine a certain starting point. It is in it that the temperature begins to drop, and here astronomers draw an invisible boundary.

Saturn's atmosphere is almost ninety-six percent hydrogen. Of the constituent gases, I would also like to name helium, it is present in an amount of three percent. The remaining one percent is divided among themselves by ammonia, methane and other substances. For all living organisms known to us, the atmosphere of the planet is destructive.

The thickness of the atmospheric layer is close to sixty kilometers. Surprisingly, Saturn, like Jupiter, is often referred to as the "planet of storms." Of course, by the standards of Jupiter, they are insignificant. But for earthlings, a wind of almost two thousand kilometers per hour will seem like the real end of the world. Such storms occur on Saturn quite often, sometimes scientists notice formations in the atmosphere that resemble our hurricanes. In a telescope, they look like vast white spots, and hurricanes are extremely rare. Therefore, observing them is considered a great success for astronomers.

Rings of Saturn

The color of Saturn and its rings is approximately the same, although this "belt" sets a huge number of problems for scientists that they are not yet able to solve. It is especially difficult to answer questions about the origin and age of this splendor. To date, the scientific community has put forward several hypotheses on this topic, which no one can yet prove or disprove.

First of all, many young astronomers are interested in what the rings of Saturn are made of. Scientists can answer this question quite accurately. The structure of the rings is very heterogeneous, it consists of billions of particles that move at great speed. The diameter of these particles ranges from one centimeter to ten meters. They are ninety-eight percent ice. The remaining two percent are represented by various impurities.

Despite the impressive picture that the rings of Saturn present, they are very thin. Their thickness, on average, does not even reach a kilometer, while their diameter reaches two hundred and fifty thousand kilometers.

For simplicity, the rings of the planet are usually called one of the letters of the Latin alphabet, three rings are considered the most noticeable. But the second is considered the most striking and beautiful.

Ring formation: theories and hypotheses

Since ancient times, people have puzzled over exactly how the rings of Saturn were formed. Initially, a theory was put forward about the simultaneous formation of the planet and its rings. However, later this version was refuted, because scientists were struck by the purity of the ice, of which the “belt” of Saturn consists. If the rings had the same age as the planet, then their particles would be covered with a layer that can be compared to dirt. Since this did not happen, the scientific community had to look for other explanations.

The theory about the exploded satellite of Saturn is considered traditional. According to this statement, approximately four billion years ago, one of the planet's satellites came too close to it. According to scientists, its diameter could reach up to three hundred kilometers. Under the influence of the tidal force, it was torn into billions of particles that formed the rings of Saturn. The version about the collision of two satellites is also considered. Such a theory seems the most plausible, but recent data make it possible to determine the age of the rings as one hundred million years.

Surprisingly, the particles of the rings constantly collide with each other, form into new formations, and thus make it difficult to study them. Modern scientists are still unable to solve the mystery of the formation of the "belt" of Saturn, which has added to the list of mysteries of this planet.

Moons of Saturn

The gas giant has a huge number of satellites. Forty percent of all known systems revolve around it. To date, sixty-three moons of Saturn have been discovered, and many of them present no less surprises than the planet itself.

The size of satellites ranges from three hundred kilometers to more than five thousand kilometers in diameter. The easiest way for astronomers to discover large moons, most of them were able to describe in the late eighties of the eighteenth century. It was then that Titan, Rhea, Enceladus and Iapetus were discovered. These moons are still of great interest to scientists and are closely studied by them.

Interestingly, all the moons of Saturn are very different from each other. They are united by the fact that they are always turned to the planet with only one side and rotate almost synchronously. The three moons of greatest interest to astronomers are:

• Titanium.
• Enceladus.

Titan is the second largest in the solar system. It is not surprising that it is second only to one of the satellites of Titan, half the size of the Moon, and the size is comparable to Mercury and even exceeds it. Interestingly, the composition of this giant moon of Saturn contributed to the formation of the atmosphere. In addition, there is liquid on it, which puts Titan on a par with the Earth. Some scientists even suggest that there may be some form of life on the moon's surface. Of course, it will be significantly different from the earth, because the atmosphere of Titan consists of nitrogen, methane and ethane, and on its surface you can see lakes of methane and islands with a bizarre relief formed by liquid nitrogen.

Enceladus is an equally amazing satellite of Saturn. Scientists call it the brightest celestial body in the solar system because of its surface, completely covered with an ice crust. Scientists are sure that under this layer of ice lies a real ocean, in which living organisms may well exist.

Rhea recently surprised astronomers. After numerous shots, they were able to see several thin rings around her. It is too early to talk about their composition and size, but this discovery was shocking, because previously it was not even assumed that rings could rotate around the satellite.

Saturn and Earth: a comparative analysis of these two planets

Comparisons between Saturn and Earth are rarely made by scientists. These celestial bodies are too different to compare them with each other. But today we decided to expand the reader's horizons a little and still look at these planets with a fresh look. Is there anything in common between them?

First of all, it comes to mind to compare the mass of Saturn and the Earth, this difference will be incredible: the gas giant is ninety-five times larger than our planet. In size, it exceeds the Earth nine and a half times. Therefore, in its volume, our planet can fit more than seven hundred times.

Interestingly, the gravity on Saturn will be ninety-two percent of the earth's gravity. If we assume that a person weighing one hundred kilograms is transferred to Saturn, then his weight will decrease to ninety-two kilograms.

Every student knows that the earth's axis has a certain angle of inclination relative to the sun. This allows the seasons to change each other, and people enjoy all the beauties of nature. Surprisingly, Saturn's axis has a similar tilt. Therefore, the planet can also observe the change of seasons. However, they do not have a pronounced character and it is quite difficult to trace them.

Like the Earth, Saturn has its own magnetic field, and recently scientists have witnessed a real aurora that spilled over the conditional surface of the planet. It pleased with the duration of the glow and bright purple hues.

Even from our small comparative analysis it is clear that both planets, despite the incredible differences, have something that unites them. Perhaps this makes scientists constantly turn their gaze towards Saturn. However, some of them laughingly say that if it were possible to look at both planets side by side, then the Earth would look like a coin, and Saturn would look like an inflated basketball.

Studying the gas giant that is Saturn is a process that puzzles scientists all over the world. More than once they sent probes and various apparatuses to him. Since the last mission was completed this year, the next one is scheduled only for 2020. However, now no one can say whether it will take place. For several years, negotiations have been underway on Russia's participation in this large-scale project. According to preliminary calculations, the new device will take about nine years to get into the orbit of Saturn, and another four years to study the planet and its largest satellite. Based on the foregoing, one can be sure that the disclosure of all the secrets of the planet of storms is a matter of the future. Perhaps you, our readers today, will also take part in this.

This article is a message or report on Saturn, which sets out characteristic this planet of the solar system: basic astronomical data, the structure of the atmosphere and core, a description of the rings and satellites.

Astronomical data of Saturn

Maximum distance from the Sun (aphelion) 1.513 billion km (10.116 AU)
Minimum distance from the Sun (perihelion) 1.354 billion km (9.048 AU)
Equator diameter 120,540 km
The average temperature of the upper atmosphere-180º C
Period of revolution around the sun 29.458 Earth years
Period of revolution around the axis 10 h 34 min 13 s
Number of rings 8
Number of satellites 62

Description of the planet

This planet - a pale golden ball surrounded by the thinnest ring - got its name from the ancient Roman god of crops, the father of Jupiter. The sixth in the solar system and the second largest, Saturn revolves around our star at an average distance of 1.4 billion km, twice as far from the star as Jupiter. The substance of this celestial body, like Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune, has a low average density (0.69 g / cm 3), since it consists mainly of gases; however, the giant planet Saturn is about 95 times more massive than Earth.

Due to the large distance from the center of the solar system, its orbital period (i.e., the Saturnian year) is very long and is about 29.5 Earth. At the same time, Saturn's rotation around its axis occurs much faster than that of the Earth: one day here lasts only 10 hours and 34 minutes. The speed of movement of clouds over the equatorial zone of the planet is such that they complete a full revolution 26 minutes faster than clouds at higher latitudes; the reason for this is the enormous force (about 500 m / s) of the winds blowing in the upper atmosphere.

atmosphere and core

Saturn is enveloped in a dense, cloud-filled layer of gases. The basis of its atmosphere is helium and hydrogen; the clouds are composed mainly of water and ammonia crystals. Just like the closest neighbor in the solar system - Jupiter, in the visible atmospheric layers of this planet there are certain areas, painted in both darker and lighter colors (the so-called belts and zones, respectively); they are quite clearly distinguishable, although less contrasting than that of Jupiter. In addition, relatively stable atmospheric disturbances are also observed here - for example, the Great White Spot, which existed for several months and then reemerged about three decades later; the giant, Earth-sized oval formation located near the north pole has been named the Great Brown Spot.

An irregular ball reaching a diameter of approximately 120.5 thousand km (the atmosphere of the planet is highly susceptible to flattening at the poles, since rapid rotation contributes to its “squeezing” into the equatorial regions) consists of several layers. It is assumed that at least two layers of liquid hydrogen are hidden in its depths, and one of them, consisting of the so-called metallic hydrogen, can conduct electricity.

The core of Saturn is a huge sphere composed, apparently, of stones and ice. According to scientists, its size exceeds the core of Jupiter (about 30 thousand km): indirect evidence of this is a more active movement of atmospheric masses from the poles to the equator.

Rings

Since the planet's axis is very strongly - more than 63º - inclined to the plane of the orbit, earthly astronomers have an excellent opportunity to observe these amazing formations in the plan. It is believed that they were first seen by Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) in 1610, but due to the imperfection of the telescope, they were considered a chain of satellites; only half a century later, the Dutch scientist Huygens managed to find out that this is a ring that surrounds the planet and does not touch it anywhere.

Due to the movement of Saturn in its orbit, the rings slowly turn towards us, first one side, then the other; every 15 years they are edge-on to us, and then they cannot be seen even in the most powerful telescopes. At first it was believed that it was a huge monolith, but later studies disproved this theory. In particular, information received from spacecraft of the Pioneer and Voyager series in 1970-1980 testified: Saturn is surrounded by no less than seven rings, and the structure of each is very complex. The eighth ring - the Phoebe ring - with a diameter of more than 13 million km, was discovered in 2009. There is also an assumption about the presence of a system of rings in one of the satellites of Saturn - Rhea.

Apparently, the rings are the remnants of that pre-planetary cloud that gave rise to all the bodies of the solar system, and consist of small - from 1 mm to several meters - dust particles covered with ice. With an average thickness of 10 m to 10 km, their diameter is 270 thousand km. The three brightest are named A, B and C; unlike the D, E, F and G rings, which are narrower and dimmer, they are quite distinguishable from the Earth even with a weak telescope. Rings A and B are separated by the so-called Cassini gap (named after the Italian astronomer who lived in the 17th-18th centuries); a similar "hole" in the body of the ring A is called the Encke gap. In addition, the Cassini automatic station in early 2004 discovered that Saturn had a radiation belt inside the rings, which came as a complete surprise to scientists.

satellites

In addition to the billions of tiny moons that make up its rings, Saturn also has a large number of satellites - 62. Their size and shape are very different: there are objects like Iapetus and Rhea (average diameters are 1,436 and 1,528 km, respectively), and there are small satellites, such as Atlas (about 32 km) and Telesto (24 km). Thanks to modern equipment in recent years, it has become possible to discover many of the smallest satellites by space standards, the diameter of which is less than 10 km.

The largest satellite of Saturn is Titan, its diameter is 5,150 km and in the entire solar system it is second only to Jupiter's moon Ganymede. Titan is one of the most interesting satellites of Saturn: it is believed that the processes occurring in its atmosphere (85% nitrogen, about 12% argon and 3% methane) are similar to those that could be found on the young Earth billions of years ago. On January 14, 2005, the Huygens probe was launched to this planet, transmitting a lot of valuable scientific information.

The periods of revolution and the radii of the orbits in each of the three groups of Saturn's satellites - Tethys, Telesto and Calypso, Dione and Helena, Janus and Epimetheus - are the same. There are other interesting facts: for example, the Encke gap inside ring A arose due to the satellite Pan, whose orbit lies in the same plane, and the satellites Atlas and Prometheus, between whose orbits the ring F is located, do not allow its constituent particles to scatter in space (for this they were nicknamed "shepherd moons").

In addition to Saturn, other planets of the solar system also have rings: Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune.

Saturn is the second largest planet in our solar system and the sixth planet from the Sun. Saturn, just like Uranus, Jupiter and Neptune, are gas giants. The planet got its name in honor of the god of agriculture.

To a greater extent, the planet consists of hydrogen, with minor admixtures of helium and traces of methane, water, ammonia and heavy elements. As for the interior, it is a small core of nickel, iron and ice, covered with a gaseous outer layer and a small layer of metallic hydrogen. The outer atmosphere appears uniform and calm when viewed from space, although long-term formations are sometimes traced. Saturn has a planetary magnetic field that occupies an intermediate position in strength between the powerful field of Jupiter and the magnetic field of the Earth. The wind speed on the planet can reach up to 1800 km / h, which is much more than on Jupiter.

Saturn has a prominent ring system that is mostly made up of ice particles, with smaller amounts of dust and heavy elements. There are currently 62 known moons orbiting Saturn. The largest of them is Titan. Among all the satellites, it is the second largest (after Ganymede).

In the orbit of Saturn is an automatic interplanetary station called Cassini. Scientists launched it back in 1997. And in 2004, it reached the Saturn system, whose tasks include studying the structure of the rings and the dynamics of the magnetosphere and atmosphere.

planet name

The planet Saturn was named after the Roman god of agriculture. Later he was identified with the leader of the titans - Kronos. Since the titan Kronos devoured his children, he was not popular among the Greeks. Among the Romans, the god Saturn was held in high esteem and respect. According to ancient legend, he taught mankind how to cultivate the land, build houses and grow plants. The times of his alleged reign are said to be the “golden age of mankind”, celebrations were organized in his honor, which were called Saturnalia. Slaves during these celebrations received freedom for a short time. In Indian mythology, the planet corresponds to Shani.

Origin of Saturn

It is worth noting that the origin of Saturn is explained by two main hypotheses (just like with Jupiter). According to the “concentration” hypothesis, the similar composition of Saturn and the Sun is that these celestial bodies have most of the hydrogen. As a result, the low density is explained by the fact that at the initial stages of the development of the solar system, massive “clumps” were formed in the gas and dust disk, which gave rise to the planets. It turns out that the planets and the Sun formed in a similar way. But be that as it may, this hypothesis does not explain the difference in the composition of the Sun and Saturn.

The "accretion" hypothesis says that the process of Saturn's formation consisted of two stages. First, for two hundred million years, there was a process of formation of solid dense bodies that resembled the planets of the terrestrial group. During this stage, some of the gas dissipated from the region of Saturn and Jupiter, which in the future affected the difference in the chemical compositions of the Sun and Saturn. After that, the 2nd stage began, during which the largest bodies were able to reach twice the mass of the Earth. For several hundred thousand years, the process of gas accretion onto these bodies from the primary protoplanetary cloud took place. The temperature at the second stage of the outer layers of the planet reached 2000 ° C.

Saturn among other planets

As mentioned above, Saturn is one of the gas planets: it does not have a solid surface and mainly consists of gases. The polar radius of the planet is 54,400 km, the equatorial radius is 60,300 km. Among the other planets, Saturn is the most compressed. The weight of the planet exceeds the mass of the Earth by 95.2 times, but its average density is less than the density of water. Although the masses of Saturn and Jupiter differ by more than three times, their equatorial diameters differ by only 19%. As for the density of other gas planets, it is much higher and amounts to 1.27-1.64 g/cm3. The free fall acceleration along the equator is 10.44 m/s2, which is comparable to Neptune and Earth, but much less than Jupiter.

Rotation and orbital characteristics of Saturn

The average distance between the Sun and Saturn is 1430 million km. Moving at a speed of 9.69 km / s, the planet revolves around the Sun in 29.5 years (10,759 days). The distance from Saturn to our planet varies from 8.0 AU. e. (119 million km) to 11.1 a. e. (1660 million km), the average distance during the period of their confrontation is approximately 1280 million km. Jupiter and Saturn are in almost exact 2:5 resonance to the Sun at aphelion and perihelion is 162 million km.

The differential rotation of the planet's atmosphere is similar to the rotation of the atmospheres of Venus and Jupiter, as well as the Sun. A. Williams was the first to discover that the speed of Saturn's rotation can vary not only in depth and latitude, but also in time. An analysis of the variability of the rotation of the equatorial zone over 200 years has shown that the main contribution to this variability is made by the annual and semi-annual cycles.

Atmosphere and structure of Saturn

The upper atmosphere is 96.3% hydrogen and 3.25% helium. There are impurities of ammonia, methane, ethane, phosphine and some other gases. In the upper part of the atmosphere, ammonia clouds are more powerful than those of Jupiter, while the clouds in the lower part are composed of water or ammonium hydrosulfide.

According to the Voyager data, strong winds blow on the planet. The devices managed to register wind speeds of 500 m/s. They mostly blow in an easterly direction. Their strength weakens simultaneously with the distance from the equator (westerly atmospheric currents may appear). Studies have shown that atmospheric circulation can take place in the layer of upper clouds, but also at a depth of up to 2000 km. Moreover, from the measurements of Voyager 2, it became known that the winds in the northern and southern hemispheres are symmetrical about the equator. There is an assumption that symmetric flows are connected under the layer of the visible atmosphere.

Sometimes stable formations appear in the atmosphere of Saturn, which are super-powerful hurricanes. Exactly the same objects can be traced on the rest of the gas planets of the solar system. Approximately once every 30 years, the "Big White Oval" appears on Saturn, which was last seen in 2010 (less than large hurricanes form more often).

During storms and storms, strong lightning discharges are observed on Saturn. The electromagnetic activity caused by them fluctuates over the years from almost complete absence to super-powerful electrical storms.

On December 28, 2010, the Cassini spacecraft photographed a storm that looked like cigarette smoke. Another strong storm was recorded by astronomers on May 20, 2011.

Internal structure

In the depths of the planet's atmosphere, temperature and pressure increase, and hydrogen passes into a liquid state, but this transition is gradual. At a depth of 30 thousand km, hydrogen becomes metallic (3 million atmospheres - pressure). The magnetic field is created by the circulation of electric currents in metallic hydrogen. It is not as powerful as that of Jupiter. In the central part of the planet there is a powerful core of heavy and solid materials - metals, silicates and presumably ice. Its weight is approximately 9 to 22 times the mass of our planet. The core temperature is 11,700°C. It should also be noted that the energy radiated by Saturn into space is two and a half times the energy that it receives from the Sun. A significant part of this energy is generated due to the Kelvin-Helmholtz mechanism. At a time when the temperature drops, the pressure in it decreases accordingly, it goes down, and energy is converted into heat. But such a mechanism cannot be the only source of Saturn's energy. Scientists suggest that an additional part of the heat appears due to condensation and the subsequent fall of helium droplets through a layer of hydrogen into the core. As a consequence, the potential energy of the drops is converted into thermal energy. The core region, according to scientists, has a diameter of about 25 thousand km.

Satellites of Saturn

The largest moons of Saturn are Enceladus, Mimas, Dione, Tethys, Titan, Rhea and Iapetus. They were first discovered in 1789, but to this day remain the main objects of study. Their diameters vary from 397 to 5150 km. The mass distribution corresponds to the diameter distribution. Tethys and Dione have the smallest orbital eccentricities, and Titan has the largest. All satellites with known parameters are located above the synchronous orbit, which leads to their slow removal.

As of 2010, 62 moons of Saturn are known. Moreover, 12 of them were discovered by means of spacecraft: Cassini, Voyager 1, Voyager 2. Most satellites, except for Phoebe and Hyperion, are characterized by their own synchronous rotation - each of them always turns one side to Saturn. There is no information about the rotation of small satellites. Dione and Tethys are accompanied by two satellites at the Lagrange points L4 and L5.

During 2006, a team of scientists, under the strict guidance of David Jewitt, working in Hawaii, identified nine satellites of Saturn using the Subaru telescope. They attributed them to irregular satellites, characterized by a retrograde orbit. The time of their rotation around Saturn varies from 862 to 1300 days.

The first high-quality images were obtained with the image of one of the moons of Tethys only in 2015.

When it comes to Jupiter, avoiding the use of the epithet "giant" is simply impossible. The largest planet in our system has dozens of satellites, a powerful magnetic field, and also forms a kind of miniature solar system. Astronomers call Jupiter a "failed star" and NASA jokingly recommends a visit to this gas giant to all those who are crazy about the northern lights.

Here are 10 interesting facts about Jupiter:

• If the Sun were the size of a standard front door, then the Earth would be about the size of a 5-cent coin and Jupiter the size of a basketball. If we talk about volume, then Jupiter can fit 1300 planets like ours.
• Jupiter is the fifth planet in the solar system. It orbits at a distance of approximately 778 million kilometers, or 5.2 AU from the Sun.

In the presented image, the largest planet in the solar system is captured from an unusual angle. If you were to fly directly over Jupiter's southern hemisphere, this is exactly what you would see: red, bronze, and white bands surrounding the hazy pole. These stripes are a characteristic feature of the external appearance of the planet / ©NASA

• One day on Jupiter is equal to 10 Earth hours (exactly so much time is needed for the planet to make one complete revolution around its axis). A year on Jupiter is equal to 12 Earth years, or 4.333 days (the period of revolution around the Sun).
• Jupiter is classified as a gas giant and therefore does not have a solid surface. However, some astronomers speculate that the planet may have an Earth-sized, solid inner core.
• Jupiter's atmosphere consists mainly of hydrogen and helium.

As you probably know, Jupiter has a powerful magnetic field. So powerful that it can generate aurora borealis a thousand times stronger and brighter than what we can see on Earth. Therefore, in the distant future, this gas giant may become a favorite place for photographers "obsessed" with such light shows / ©NASA/JPL

• To date, Jupiter has 67 satellites, which is an absolute record among the planets of the solar system.
• Jupiter, along with three other gas giants in the solar system, has a ring system. It was discovered in 1979 during the passage of the Voyager 1 spacecraft by the planet.
• This planet became the object of study of many spacecraft. Soon, the automatic interplanetary station NASA "Juno" will "moor" to it.
• The disk of the planet has been invariably (for several hundred years) adorned with a huge spot the size of our planet. This famous atmospheric formation is called the Great Red Spot (GRS). This giant storm raging on Jupiter has been known since the 17th century.

Looking at this photo, you probably think that the "big brother" (aka Jupiter) is watching you with his huge, pronounced "eye". However, this is just an accident, and Jupiter, of course, does not have any eye. The Hubble telescope managed to take such an unusual picture while observing the famous Great Red Spot. By a lucky chance, at the time of shooting, a round spot swept through the center of the BKP - the shadow of the moon Ganymede. This made Jupiter look like a one-eyed cyclops for a moment / ©NASA

• Jupiter cannot support life as we know it. However, some of the planet's moons have oceans below their surface, which may show signs of life.
• The owner of the famous system of rings and "shepherd" satellites is rightfully considered one of the most unique planets in our system. Since 2004, this gas giant has been under the supervision of the Cassini automatic interplanetary station, thanks to which we learn something new about Saturn with enviable constancy.

Here are 10 interesting facts about Saturn:

• If the Sun were the size of a standard front door, then Earth would be about the size of a 5-cent coin and Saturn about the size of a basketball. In size, it is second only to Jupiter.
• Saturn is the sixth planet in the solar system. It rotates at a distance of about 1.4 billion km, or 9.5 AU from the Sun.

In the foreground of this striking image is a six-sided vortex around Saturn's north pole, which is twice the size of Earth. In the background of the frame are the amazing rings of the gas giant / ©NASA

• One day on Saturn is equal to 10.7 Earth hours (exactly so much time is needed for the planet to make one complete rotation around its axis). A year on Jupiter is equal to 29 Earth years, or 10.756 days (the period of revolution around the Sun).
• Saturn is classified as a gas giant, so it does not have a solid surface.

Gas giants of the solar system - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune / ©NASA

• Saturn's atmosphere consists mainly of hydrogen and helium.
• To date, Saturn has 62 known satellites. The absolute record for this indicator belongs to Jupiter, which has 67 of them. The largest satellite of the “ringed” planet is Titan, which is larger than Mercury and has the only dense atmosphere among the satellites of the solar system.

Saturn's moons Pandora and Prometheus are classified as "shepherd" satellites, and their "protected" object is the gas giant's F ring. The orbits of these two natural satellites of the planet are unstable and resonate with each other / ©NASA

• Rings, composed mainly of ice particles, smaller amounts of heavy elements and dust, are an integral part of all four gas giants in the solar system. However, the most spectacular structure (seven rings with several gaps and gaps between them) has Saturn.
• Only four spacecraft were sent to rendezvous with Saturn: Pioneer 11, Voyager 1, Voyager 2 and Cassini. The latest apparatus has been studying the gas giant, its rings and satellites for more than 10 years.
• Saturn cannot support life as we know it. However, on some moons of Saturn, the conditions for life are more favorable.

Many scientists believe that Saturn's sixth largest moon, Enceladus, is the most habitable place in the solar system outside of Earth. Perhaps in the future, traveling to this Saturnian moon will not be so impossible. Titan is another good alternative for those who want to visit the satellite of a planet. Titan will offer a magnificent view of Saturn / ©NASA/JPL

• First observing Saturn through a telescope in 1609-1610, Galileo Galilei noticed strange objects on every side of the planet. Later it turned out that these objects are actually the rings of Saturn.