A view of Saturn from the Cassini spacecraft shows the golden planet with its rings.

Saturn

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun, and the second largest in the solar system. It’s surrounded by beautiful rings.

10 Things about saturn

Nine Earths would almost span Saturn’s diameter.

Full view of Saturn partially illuminated by the Sun.

Saturn is 9.5 AU from the Sun. Earth = 1.

inner rings around saturn fading

It takes 29 Earth years for Saturn to orbit the Sun.

orange sphere with rings and saturn in background

This gas giant world may have a small core.

Saturn

Saturn's atmosphere is mostly hydrogen and helium.

crescent moon with large crater

Saturn has the most: 146.

Saturn

Eight rings make for a spectacular system.

NASA's Cassini spacecraft is shown heading for the gap between Saturn and its rings during one of 22 such dives of the mission's finale in this illustration. The spacecraft will make a final plunge into the planet's atmosphere on Sept. 15.

Four missions visited Saturn; one has orbited.

This Cassini image from 2012 shows Titan and its host planet Saturn. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI

Saturn can't support life as we know it.

animation of clouds moving around Saturn's pole in a hexagonal pattern

A powerful jet stream shapes the clouds.

Planet Saturn Overview

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. Like fellow gas giant Jupiter, Saturn is a massive ball made mostly of hydrogen and helium.

The farthest planet from Earth discovered by the unaided human eye, Saturn has been known since ancient times. The planet is named for the Roman god of agriculture and wealth, who was also the father of Jupiter.

NASA's Eyes is a real-time visualization of our solar system powered by actual planetary science data.
NASA/JPL-Caltech

Pop Culture

Perhaps the most iconic of all the planets in our solar system, Saturn is heavily present in pop culture.

It provides a backdrop for numerous science fiction stories, movies, and TV shows, comics, and video games, including the "Cthulhu Mythos," "WALL-E," "2001: A Space Odyssey," and "Star Trek." In Tim Burton's film "Beetlejuice," a dusty, fictional Saturn is populated by giant sandworms. And in the 2014 movie "Interstellar," the wormhole that enables the astronauts to travel to another galaxy appears near Saturn.

Saturn is also the namesake of Saturday, arguably the best day of the week.​

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