When we think of Saturn, its rings immediately come to mind. With the most developed rings of any planet in the solar system, it does make sense. Although this gas giant has many other wonders in addition to its very particular structure.
Did you know that its polar diameter is 90% of its equatorial diameter? It is the flattest planet of all. This is due to its low density and fast rotation. Saturn rotates on its axis once every 10 hours and 34 minutes, resulting in the second shortest day of all the planets in the solar system.
It is so far from the Sun that it logically receives much less sunlight than we do here on Earth, and the Sun appears much smaller from there. it is located, on average, 1,275,000,000 kilometers from Earth, which is equivalent to 8.5 times the distance between the Earth and the Sun. A year on Saturn would be 10,759 Earth days. About 29 years on Earth!
At about 95 times the mass of Earth, the ringed planet is the least dense of all and is the only one less dense than water. If there were a bathtub big enough to hold it, Saturn would float.
The planet is about 120,000 kilometers wide at its equator and 109,000 km from pole to pole.
Did you know that Saturn shares some similarities with Jupiter, another of the outer or gaseous planets? Like Jupiter, Saturn has an inner mantle made of metallic hydrogen, due to its heat and pressure. Under these conditions, hydrogen changes from being a gas to a metallic liquid, which also generates the powerful magnetic field of the planet.
Saturn’s upper atmosphere is divided into cloud bands. The upper layers are mainly made up of ammonia ice. Below them, the clouds are largely icy water and then layers of cold hydrogen-sulfur ice mixtures. An environment not very conducive to life.
Today we will discover more about its history, its place in the universe and its curiosities. Are you joining the trip to the planet of the rings?
