Interesting Facts About Saturn - Fun Facts About Saturn Planet

Also referred to as 'The Jewel of the Solar System', Saturn is the sixth planet in the solar system, according to its distance from the sun. It is only slightly smaller than Jupiter in size. Saturn is the only planet which has a density less than that of water. Earlier, it was thought to be the only planet with rings, but it was later found that Jupiter and Uranus also have rings. Even after this discovery, Saturn manages to retain the tag of being the most beautiful of the eight main planets in our solar system. It is a fact that the planet Saturn does not have a surface. Thus, it is not possible to land a rocket or a space craft on Saturn. Do you want to know more fascinating and amazing details about Saturn? If yes, scroll further and read on and find out why it is referred to as the most beautiful planet of the solar system.

Fast Facts

Equatorial Diameter: 120,536 km

Polar Diameter: 108,728 km

Density: 0.69

Volume: 764 times Earth

Chemical Composition: Hydrogen and Helium

Revolution Time: 29.42 Earth years

Rotation Time: 10 hours, 39.4 minutes

Number Of Moons: 60

Discovered In: 1979

Named After: Roman God of agriculture

Distance From Earth: 1,195,772,020 km

State: Gas giant

Planetary Expeditions: Pioneer 11, Voyager 1, Voyager 2, Cassini (2004)

Interesting & Fun Facts About Saturn

Saturn is the second largest planet in the solar system.
Saturn is at the sixth position in the solar system, according to its distance from the Sun.
Due to fast rotation on its axis, Saturn is flattened at the poles.
Galileo was the first person to discover Saturn. He was confused by its strange appearance in his telescope.
It was in 1659 that Christiaan Huygens rightly inferred the geometry of the rings.
Just like Jupiter, Saturn is a gas planet. Its large distance from the sun helps it retain its original primitive gases.
The atmosphere on Saturn is primarily composed of hydrogen, with small amounts of helium and methane.
Saturn is the only planet in our solar system that is less dense that water.
Saturn's distance from the sun is two times that of Jupiter.
A Saturn year lasts for more than 29 Earth years, but a Saturn day only lasts 10 hours and 14 minutes.
Saturn is a faintly smaller version of Jupiter, with alike, but less distinctive, surface patterns.
Saturn’s rings are believed to be the particles of an old moon destroyed in a collision about 50 million years ago.
It is assumed that Saturn’s rings will disappear one day. They will either dissolve into space or get sucked into the planet by its pull of gravity.
Saturn is yellow in color and is believed to be the third brightest planet in night sky.
Saturn has the most number of moons in our solar system.
Saturn was the God of agriculture in Roman mythology. Saturn is also the father of Jupiter, the king of the Roman Gods.
Saturn's rings orbit the planet at different tilts. Sometimes, they can appear like 'ears' sticking out of the planet. At other times, they are flat when seen from Earth and are hardly visible. This shows how thin they can be.
Saturn is the basis of the English word “Saturday”.
There is a very little difference between the temperature at the poles and the equator of Saturn.
It is believed that in about ten million year and more, rings of Saturn will disappear either by getting pulled by the gravitational force or dissolve into space.
30 years on earth is equal to a year in Saturn.
Since Saturn is a light weight planet, it has the ability to spin at a faster rate.
Like most of the other planets, the shape of Saturn is not perfectly round. It is wide in the centre and narrow at its bottom and top.
Titan is the only moon among the others moons of Saturn to have an atmosphere.

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