Saturn

Saturn

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the most distant that can be seen with the naked eye.

Saturn is best known for its fabulous ring system that was discovered in 1610 by the astronomer Galileo Galilei. Its polar diameter is 90% of its equatorial diameter, this is due to its low density and fast rotation. Saturn turns on its axis once every 10 hours and 34 minutes giving it the second-shortest day of any of the solar system's planets.

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.

Saturn Facts

  • Equatorial Diameter: 120,536 km
  • Polar Diameter: 108,728 km
  • Mass: 5.68 x 10^26 kg (95 Earths)
  • Moons: 62 (Titan, Enceladus, Iapetus & Rhea)
  • Rings: 30+ (7 Groups)
  • Orbit Distance: 1,426,666,422 km (9.58 AU)
  • Orbit Period: 10,756 days (29.5 years)
  • Surface Temperature: -139°C
  • First Record: 8th century BC
  • Recorded By: Assyrians