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Saturn


Saturn

Saturn, named after the Roman God of agriculture and harvest, is the second largest planet in our solar system. It is known for its rings.

About Saturn

Saturn is the second largest planet in our solar system. The ringed planet is the sixth planet from the sun and sits between Jupiter and Uranus. It is named after Saturn, the Roman God of agriculture and harvest.

The diameter of Saturn is 120,536 km across its equator and 108,728 from pole to pole. It is almost 10 times the size of earth. Despite its large size, it weighs very little in comparison. The planet is made of mostly gases.

The interior is made of nickel, iron, silicon and oxygen compounds. This is surrounded by layers of metallic hydrogen, liquid hydrogen and liquid helium. If placed into a swimming pool, Saturn would float!
Saturn is most widely recognized for its rings. The planet is surrounded by 9 rings. These rings are made of ice particles, rocks, dust and debris. The rings are anywhere from 4,119 miles to 75,000 miles away from the surface of the planet and are over 160 thousand miles in diameter. The gaps between the rings are caused by orbiting moons.

Saturn is orbited by at least 63 moons, many of which are very small.
Man has not yet been able to visit the large planet but probes have been sent to learn more about Saturn.

In September of 1979 the probe Pioneer 11 flew within 12,427 miles of the planet’s cloud tops to send back images of the planet, its rings and its moons. In 1980 Voyager 1 was sent to acquire more images and in 1981 Voyager 2 also sent back images.

In 2004 the probe Cassini-Hygens was launched for exploration. From 2004 to 2009 the probe has sent back many images allowing us to learn many things about the great planet.

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