SATURN

Nathaniel McClatchey

February 13, 2000

Saturn

Saturn is our most beautiful planet because of the rings that are easily seen from Earth. The rings usually look like just one wide ring through a small telescope.

Saturn is also the second largest planet. It is 80 times bigger than Earth. Saturn is the sixth planet away from the Sun.

Saturn is one of the gas planets along with Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune. It is less dense than water. If there were a sea big enough, Saturn would float in it. The atmosphere is a bit poisonous because of methane. There is no oxygen.

On the surface the wind blows faster than one hundred m.p.h. That is faster than a hurricane. It is very cold. The temperature is 88 degrees Kelvin because it is so far away from the sun.

There are at least four rings around Saturn. The rings are made of ice, dust, bits of rock, gas and liquid that rotate around Saturn. The rings have spokes in them. Scientists have seen that the spokes are magnetized dust particles going out to the rings.

In 1965 there were only 9 moons known. Today there are more than twenty moons known around Saturn. Some of them were seen by spacecraft. Three of their names are Mimas, Rhea, and Titan. There is a wide variety of size: Mimas is 240 miles wide, Rhea is 950 miles wide, and Titan is 3190 miles wide. The moons are far away from each other.

Cassini is one of the spacecraft that will visit Saturn. It still hasn't gotten there. It was launched in 1997 and will get to Saturn in the year 2004.

Don, Davis and Halliday, Ian. Saturn. New York: Facts on File, 1989.

Seymour, Simons. Saturn. New York. William Morow. 1985.

Basic facts about Saturn. 11/21/ 1999.

Two Moons