Saturn
Adorned with a dazzling, complex system of icy rings, Saturn is unique in our solar system. The other giant planets have rings, but none are as spectacular as Saturn's.
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest planet in our solar system.
Adorned with thousands of beautiful ringlets, Saturn is unique among the planets. It is not the only planet to have rings – made of chunks of ice and rock – but none are as spectacular or as complicated as Saturn's.
Like fellow gas giant Jupiter, Saturn is a massive ball made mostly of hydrogen and helium.
10 Need-to-Know Things About Saturn
1
A Colossal Planet
Nine Earths side by side would almost span Saturn’s diameter. That doesn’t include Saturn’s rings.
2
In Dim Light
Saturn is the sixth planet from our Sun (a star) and orbits at a distance of about 886 million miles (1.4 billion kilometers) from the Sun.
3
Short Day, Long Year
Saturn takes about 10.7 hours (no one knows precisely) to rotate on its axis once—a Saturn “day”—and 29 Earth years to orbit the sun.
Jewel of the Solar System
4
Gas Giant
Saturn is a gas-giant planet and therefore does not have a solid surface like Earth’s. But it might have a solid core somewhere in there.
5
Hot Air
Saturn's atmosphere is made up mostly of hydrogen (H2) and helium (He).
6
Mini Solar System
Saturn has 53 known moons with an additional 29 moons awaiting confirmation of their discovery—that is a total of 82 moons.
7
Glorious Rings
Saturn has the most spectacular ring system, with seven rings and several gaps and divisions between them.
8
Rare Destination
Few missions have visited Saturn: Pioneer 11 and Voyagers 1 and 2 flew by; But Cassini orbited Saturn 294 times from 2004 to 2017.
9
Lifeless Behemoth
Saturn cannot support life as we know it, but some of Saturn's moons have conditions that might support life.
10
Add a Dash of Earth
About two tons of Saturn’s mass came from Earth—the Cassini spacecraft was intentionally vaporized in Saturn’s atmosphere in 2017.
Saturn, Approaching Northern Summer
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," "Star Trek," "Dead Space 2," and "Final Fantasy VII." 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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