The Special Facts About Saturn - Rings and Moons

 

The Special Facts About Saturn- Rings and Moon

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine-and-a-half times that of Earth.  It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 times more massive. Even though Saturn is nearly the size of Jupiter, Saturn has less than one-third of Jupiter's mass. Saturn orbits the Sun at a distance of 9.59 AU (1,434 million km) with an orbital period of 29.45 years.

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The origin of Saturn's Rings and Moons

Saturn's rings are considered to be pieces of comets, asteroids, or shattered moons that broke up before they reached the planet, torn apart by Saturn's powerful gravity. They are made of billions of small chunks of ice and rock coated with other materials such as dust. 

What is the Purpose of Saturn's Ring?

New moons can also form from the particles in Saturn's rings, coalescing and sweeping up material in the rings as they orbit the planet. This makes Saturn's rings a sort of recycling system in which new moons arise from the elements of the old. 

How Do Saturn's Ring Stay in Place?

Saturn's rings are held together by gravity. Saturn also has several shepherd moons, small moons that orbit near the outer edges of rings or within gaps in the rings. The gravity of shepherd moons serves to maintain a sharply defined edge to the ring.

How Many Rings Saturn Have?

For now, astronomers count eight main rings. As they were discovered, each was assigned a letter of the alphabet (not exactly the flashiest nomenclature for such an awe-inspiring planet). But they do not appear in alphabetical order. Working outward from Saturn, the first are the C, B and A rings.

Do Saturn 'Rings contain Water? Can Drink This Water?

Saturn's rings are at present 90 to 95 percent water ice. Because dust and debris from rocky meteoroids have polluted the rings, the rings are believed to have consisted of pure ice when they formed.

School of Earth and Space (Planetary Science  Hub)

The best places to look for life are where the ocean overlies warm rock. This may be the case inside Europa (Jupiter) and Enceladus (Saturn), but chemical reactions with the rock would make the liquid water salty, so not good to drink.

Does Saturn Have Moons? Does This have 95 or 200 Moons?

New discoveries by a by astronomers about Saturn added 62 new moons to Saturn's existing 83, bringing its total to 145. That tops Jupiter's 95 recognized moons. Therefore, Saturn is the first planet known to have more than 100 moons.

What Was Special About Saturn?

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in our solar system. Adorned with a dazzling system of icy rings,  Saturn is unique among the planets. It is not the only planet to have rings, but none are as spectacular or as complex as Saturn's. 

School of Earth and Space (Planetary Science  Hub)

 

The Special Facts About Saturn- Rings and Moon

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine-and-a-half times that of Earth.  It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 times more massive. Even though Saturn is nearly the size of Jupiter, Saturn has less than one-third of Jupiter's mass. Saturn orbits the Sun at a distance of 9.59 AU (1,434 million km) with an orbital period of 29.45 years.

Click Here. . . 

The origin of Saturn's Rings and Moons

Saturn's rings are considered to be pieces of comets, asteroids, or shattered moons that broke up before they reached the planet, torn apart by Saturn's powerful gravity. They are made of billions of small chunks of ice and rock coated with other materials such as dust. 

What is the Purpose of Saturn's Ring?

New moons can also form from the particles in Saturn's rings, coalescing and sweeping up material in the rings as they orbit the planet. This makes Saturn's rings a sort of recycling system in which new moons arise from the elements of the old. 

How Do Saturn's Ring Stay in Place?

Saturn's rings are held together by gravity. Saturn also has several shepherd moons, small moons that orbit near the outer edges of rings or within gaps in the rings. The gravity of shepherd moons serves to maintain a sharply defined edge to the ring.

How Many Rings Saturn Have?

For now, astronomers count eight main rings. As they were discovered, each was assigned a letter of the alphabet (not exactly the flashiest nomenclature for such an awe-inspiring planet). But they do not appear in alphabetical order. Working outward from Saturn, the first are the C, B and A rings.

Do Saturn 'Rings contain Water? Can Drink This Water?

Saturn's rings are at present 90 to 95 percent water ice. Because dust and debris from rocky meteoroids have polluted the rings, the rings are believed to have consisted of pure ice when they formed.

School of Earth and Space (Planetary Science  Hub)

The best places to look for life are where the ocean overlies warm rock. This may be the case inside Europa (Jupiter) and Enceladus (Saturn), but chemical reactions with the rock would make the liquid water salty, so not good to drink.

Does Saturn Have Moons? Does This have 95 or 200 Moons?

New discoveries by a by astronomers about Saturn added 62 new moons to Saturn's existing 83, bringing its total to 145. That tops Jupiter's 95 recognized moons. Therefore, Saturn is the first planet known to have more than 100 moons.

What Was Special About Saturn?

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in our solar system. Adorned with a dazzling system of icy rings,  Saturn is unique among the planets. It is not the only planet to have rings, but none are as spectacular or as complex as Saturn's. 

School of Earth and Space (Planetary Science  Hub)