Saturn

Saturn

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest.

Planet Profile
orbit: 1,429,400,000 km (9.54 AU) from Sun
diameter: 120,536 km (equatorial)
mass: 5.68e26 kg

Saturn History

In Roman folklore, Saturn is the lord of farming. The related Greek god, Cronus, was the child of Uranus and Gaia and the dad of Zeus (Jupiter). Saturn is the base of the English word "Saturday" (see Appendix 5).

Classic-beef-stuffed-peppers.

Saturn has been known since ancient times. Galileo was quick to notice it with a telescope in 1610; he noticed its odd appearance yet was befuddled by it. Early perceptions of Saturn were convoluted by the way that the Earth goes through the plane of Saturn's rings like clockwork as Saturn moves in its circle. 

A low goal picture of Saturn hence changes definitely. It was only after 1659 that Christiaan Huygens accurately deduced the calculation of the rings. Saturn's rings stayed special in the known nearby planet group until 1977 when exceptionally faint rings were found around Uranus (and presently around Jupiter and Neptune).

Saturn was first visited by NASA's Pioneer 11 out of 1979 and later by Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. Cassini (a joint NASA/ESA project) showed up on July 1, 2004 and will circle Saturn for something like four years.

Saturn is noticeably smoothed (oblate) when seen through a little telescope; its tropical and polar widths shift by practically 10% (120,536 km versus 108,728 km). This is the aftereffect of its fast turn and liquid state. Different gas planets are additionally oblate, however not to such an extent.

Saturn is the most un-thick of the planets; its particular gravity (0.7) is not exactly that of water.

Like Jupiter, Saturn is around 75% hydrogen and 25% helium with hints of water, methane, alkali and "rock", like the structure of the early stage Solar Nebula from which the nearby planet group was shaped.

Profoundly, a fluid metallic hydrogen layer and a sub-atomic hydrogen layer. Hints of different frosts are likewise present.

(Profoundly) and Saturn emanates more energy into space than it gets from the Sun. The greater part of the additional energy is produced by the Kelvin-Helmholtz instrument as in Jupiter. However, this may not be adequate to make sense of Saturn's radiance; some extra instrument might be working, maybe the "pouring out" of helium somewhere down in Saturn's inside.

The groups so conspicuous on Jupiter are much fainter on Saturn. They are likewise a lot more extensive close to the equator. Subtleties in the cloud tops are imperceptible from Earth so it was only after the Voyager experiences that any detail of Saturn's climatic course could be contemplated. 

Saturn additionally shows enduring ovals (red spot at focal point of picture at right) and different highlights normal on Jupiter. In 1990, HST noticed a colossal white cloud close to Saturn's equator which was absent during the Voyager experiences; in 1994 another, more modest tempest was noticed (left).

Two noticeable rings (An and B) and one weak ring (C) should be visible from the Earth. The hole between the An and B rings is known as the Cassini division. The much fainter hole in the external piece of the A ring is known as the Encke Division (however this is all things considered a misnomer since it was probably never seen by Encke). The Voyager pictures show four extra weak rings. Saturn's rings, not normal for the rings of different planets, are extremely splendid (albedo 0.2 - 0.6).

However they look constant from the Earth, the rings are really made out of endless little particles each in a free circle. They range in size from a centimeter or so to a few meters. A couple of kilometer-sized objects are additionally possible.

Saturn's rings are uncommonly slender: however they're 250,000 km or more in breadth they're short of what one kilometer thick. In spite of their noteworthy appearance, there's actually quite minimal material in the rings - - assuming the rings were packed into a solitary body it would be something like 100 km across.

The ring particles appear to be made principally out of water ice, yet they may likewise incorporate rough particles with frosty coatings.

Explorer affirmed the presence of confounding outspread inhomogeneities in the rings called "spokes" which were first announced by beginner cosmologists (left). Their tendency remaining parts a secret, however may have something to do with Saturn's attractive field.

Saturn's peripheral ring, the F ring, is a bulky structure made up of many smaller rings, along which there are noticeable "cracks". Scientists think the clusters could be annular blobs of material or smaller than normal moons. 

The distinctive interlocking appearance seen in Voyager 1 images (right) is absent from Voyager 2 images, perhaps because Voyager 2 imaged areas where the rings of parts are generally the same. They are visible in the Cassini images, which continue to show inexplicable, delicate, and twisted structures at this point.

There are amazing flowing resonances between some of Saturn's moons and the structure of the rings: some of the moons, the supposed "shepherd satellites" (e.g. The Book of Maps, Prometheus and Pandora) are obviously important in keeping the rings aligned; Mimas is solely responsible for the shortage of material in the Cassini region, which looks exactly like the Kirkwood holes in the cosmic rock belt; Pan is within Encke Division and S/2005 S1 is in the center of Keeler Pass.

The whole picture is extremely confusing and misunderstood at this point.The origin of the rings of Saturn (and the other planets of Jupiter) is not clear. Whatever the rings may have had since their development, ring frames are not stable and must be recovered from continuous cycles, perhaps the separation of larger satellites. 

The current ring system may be hundreds of millions of years old.Like the other planets of Jupiter, Saturn has a critical field of attraction.Saturn is actually visible to the independent eye at its point in the evening sky. However, it is not as bright as Jupiter, it is not difficult to distinguish it as a planet, since it does not "shine" like the stars. The rings and the largest satellites are visible through a small space telescope. 

There are several targets on the internet that show the current position of Saturn (and various planets) above it. You can get clearer and improved contours with the planetary program.

4-minute-spicy-garlic-shrimp.

The satellites of SaturnSaturn has 62 named satellites (as of Spring 2010):The three ensembles of Mimas-Thethys, Enceladus-Dione and Titan-Hyperion communicate gravitationally to maintain stable connections between their circles: the circle time of Mimas is basically a large fraction of the time of Tethys, they should each be in 1:2 Hall; Enceladus-Dion are also 1:2; The Titan Hyperion has a 3:4 reverb.See Scott Sheppard's website for the latest information on newly discovered moons (parts exist).There are 9 others found but not listed here.

Major moons: 
           Distance  Radius    Mass
Satellite  (000 km)   (km)     (kg)   Discoverer   Date
---------  --------  ------  -------  ----------  -----
Pan             134      10     ?     Showalter    1990
Atlas           138      14     ?     Terrile      1980
Prometheus      139      46  2.70e17  Collins      1980
Pandora         142      46  2.20e17  Collins      1980
Epimetheus      151      57  5.60e17  Walker       1980
Janus           151      89  2.01e18  Dollfus      1966
Mimas           186     196  3.80e19  Herschel     1789
Enceladus       238     260  8.40e19  Herschel     1789
Tethys          295     530  7.55e20  Cassini      1684
Telesto         295      15     ?     Reitsema     1980
Calypso         295      13     ?     Pascu        1980
Dione           377     560  1.05e21  Cassini      1684
Helene          377      16     ?     Laques       1980
Rhea            527     765  2.49e21  Cassini      1672
Titan          1222    2575  1.35e23  Huygens      1655
Hyperion       1481     143  1.77e19  Bond         1848
Iapetus        3561     730  1.88e21  Cassini      1671
Phoebe        12952     110  4.00e18  Pickering    1898

Saturn's Rings
                  Radius   Radius             approx.   approx.
Name               inner    outer     width  position  mass (kg)
----              ------   ------     -----  --------  --------
D-Ring            67,000   74,500     7,500    (ring)
Guerin Division 
C-Ring            74,500   92,000    17,500    (ring)  1.1e18
Maxwell Division  87,500   88,000       500  (divide)
B-Ring            92,000  117,500    25,500    (ring)  2.8e19
Cassini Division 115,800  120,600     4,800  (divide)
Huygens Gap      117,680    (n/a)   285-440  (subdiv)
A-Ring           122,200  136,800    14,600    (ring)  6.2e18
Encke Minima     126,430  129,940     3,500   29%-53%
Encke Division   133,410  133,740
Keeler Gap       136,510  136,550
F-Ring           140,210             30-500   (ring)
G-Ring           165,800  173,800     8,000    (ring)  1e7?
E-Ring           180,000  480,000   300,000    (ring)


Notes: * distance is kilometers from Saturn's center * the "Encke Minima" is a slang term used by amateur astronomers, not an official IAU designation. Cool.

Saturn VIDEO