The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 observed Saturn on 20 June 2019 as the planet made its closest approach to Earth this year, at approximately 1.36 billion kilometres away.
- Saturn is the second largest planet and is best known for its fabulous ring system that was first observed in 1610 by the astronomer Galileo Galilei. Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the most distant that can be seen with the naked eye.
- Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun, and last of the planets known to ancient civilizations. In Roman mythology Saturn was the father of Jupiter, king of the gods. Saturn is one of five planets able to be seen with the naked eye.
- Saturn’s rings are made up of millions of ice crystals, some very big and others as small as specks of dust.
- Saturn is made up of hydrogen and helium which makes it incredibly light. So much so, that it would float in a bathtub; that is if you managed to find a big enough tub for it!
- Saturn has a total of 62 moons. Titan is Saturn’s largest moon and is also the second largest moon in the solar system after Jupiter’s moon Ganymede.
- Saturn is at a distance of 1,426,000 km from the Sun. The planet takes 29 ½ years to orbit around the Sun. This means that one year on Saturn is equal to 29 ½ Earth years.
- Saturn is so big that you can fit 760 Earth-sized planets into it!
- Sometimes, the rings of Saturn gradually disappear because of the tilt of Saturn till they become invisible from Earth. Every 14 years, the rings look like they’ve just gone!
When astronauts and scientists find out more about the awesome rings and this planet, we would know a lot more than we know today. Although it is too far away to be explored properly, we hope Man will be able to do it in future.
Note: Refer to the table below for more details about Saturn.
Diameter – 120536 KM | |
Distance From Sun – 9.57 AU (Astronomical Units) | |
Rotation Period – 10H 39M | |
Orbit Period – 29 years | |
Surface Temperature – -125℃ | |
See my Mission Saturn project on scratch: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/424575633/