Known Space -- Sol -- | Saturn |
Out from Jupiter is Saturn, the lord of the rings. Saturn is the second largest planet in the solar system and, like Jupiter, is a gas giant. Its mass is 95 times that of Earth in a volume 760 times as large.
Saturn's most spectacular feature is its ring system. From 3,000 km above the the equator, the rings extend out 420,000 km. The rings are made of thousands of ringlets (like grooves on a phonograph) composed of particles of ice and rock. These particles range in size from dust specks to house-size.
Saturn radiates more energy than it receives from the Sun: heavier helium separates from hydrogen in the interior, turns to drops, and sinks generating friction. Saturn has a relatively small, molten rocky core imbedded in a ball of water and ammonia. This is surrounded by a layer of liquid metallic hydrogen, which in turn is surrounded by a layer liquid molecular hydrogen. Above this lies a 1,000 km thick 'atmosphere' similar to Jupiter's.
The colorful bands of Saturn are from a churning cloud layer (about 150 km thick) composed of ammonia crystals, ammonium hydrosulfide crystals, and water and ice droplets. These clouds are constantly being ripped apart by jet winds of super-hurricane strength. It has been likened to a boiling kettle of colored dyes that cannot be made to blend.
Like the Earth, Saturn has a magnetic field but (as expected) it is far more intense. The magnetic field extends out some 1 million km and is of lethal intensity. It is 1000 times stronger than the Earth's, or 20 times weaker than Jupiter.
Although not as violent as Jupiter, Saturn is none-the-less not a peaceful planet.
Orbital Distance: 9.008 AU - 10.069 AU (average 9.539 AU) Eccentricity: 0.056 Local Year: 10,759.20 days (29.46 years) Orbital Velocity: 9.6 km/s (average) Inclination: 2.489° Local Day: 0.426 day (10h 13m 59s) Axial Tilt: 26.733° Diameter: 120,536 km (cloud tops) Composition: n/a Density: 0.71 g/cm3 Mass: 5.69 x 1020 tonnes (95.17 earths) Gravity: 1.16 G Escape Velocity: 32.26 km/s Area: 15,215 million km2 Surface Material: n/a Atmosphere: Hydrogen, helium, ammonia, and methane Pressure: Up to 3,000,000 atm Albedo: 0.61 Temperature: -150° C (cloud tops) |
Satellite Distance Month Day Diameter Pan 133,600 km 0.570 d 0.570 d 0.002 Atlas 137,670 km 0.602 d 0.602 d 0.003 Prometheus 139,350 km 0.613 d 0.613 d 0.008 Pandora 141,700 km 0.629 d 0.629 d 0.007 Epimetheus 151,420 km 0.694 d 0.694 d 0.009 Janus 151,470 km 0.695 d 0.695 d 0.014 Mimas 185,540 km 0.942 d 0.943 d 0.031 Enceladus 238,040 km 1.370 d 1.370 d 0.039 Tethys 294,670 km 1.888 d 1.888 d 0.082 Telesto 294,670 km 1.888 d 1.888 d 0.002 Calypso 294,670 km 1.888 d 1.888 d 0.002 Dione 377,420 km 2.737 d 2.738 d 0.088 Helene 377,420 km 2.737 d 2.737 d 0.003 Rhea 527,040 km 4.518 d 4.513 d 0.120 Titan 1,221,860 km 15.945 d 15.969 d 0.404 Hyperion 1,481,100 km 21.277 d 21.319 d 0.023 Iapetus 3,561,300 km 79.331 d 79.920 d 0.113 Phoebe 12,954,000 km 550.400 d 523.541 d 0.017 |
Ring Distance from Saturn D Ring 67,000 km - 71,000 km C Ring 73,200 km - 87,500 km B Ring 92,200 km - 117,500 km A Ring 121,000 km - 136,800 km F Ring 140,600 km G Ring 170,000 km E Ring 180,000 km - 480,000 km |