10 Saturn Facts That Not Many People Know Page all

KOMPAS.com – Saturn is famous for having large rings. The sixth planet from the Sun is a large planet.

Quoted from the page NASA, January 7, 2004, the planet was called “The Jewel of the Solar System”.

Humans have been observing this planet for a long time. What facts were found?

1. You can’t stand on it

This planet is not like Earth. Saturn is mostly made of gas. The planet is made up mostly of helium, the same gas as the contents of a balloon. In addition to helium, Saturn also consists of hydrogen and methane.

Quoted Space, January 26, 2022, this ringed planet is the least dense of all the planets. If there was a bathtub big enough to hold it, Saturn would float.

2. Saturn is very windy

Winds around the equator can reach 1,800 kilometers per hour. That means 1,118 miles per hour.

On Earth, the fastest winds reach only about 400 kilometers per hour. That’s only about 250 miles per hour.

Also read: Facts about 5 Dwarf Planets in the Solar System Including Pluto

3. The farthest object that can be seen

Reported Space, Saturn is the farthest planet that can be seen with the naked eye.

In addition Saturn is also the fifth brightest object in the solar system so it is easy to study through binoculars or small telescopes.

4. Known by the ancients

Saturn was well known to the ancients, including the Babylonians and observers of the Middle East. Named for the Roman god Saturn, and known to the Greeks as Cronus.

5. The flattest planet

Its pole diameter is 90 percent of its equatorial diameter, this is due to its low density and fast rotation.

6. A year on Saturn is more than 29 Earth years

Saturn orbits the Sun every 29.4 Earth years. Its slow motion against a backdrop of stars earned it the nickname “Lubadsagush” from ancient Assyria. His name means “oldest of the old”.

But a day on Saturn is very fast. Saturn rotates in 10 hours and 14 minutes on Earth.

Also read: Alcyoneus Galaxy, Largest Galaxy Discovered, Confuses Scientists

7. The atmosphere above Saturn is divided into bands of clouds

The top layer is mostly ammonia ice. Below them, most of the clouds are water ice.

Below is a layer of cold hydrogen and sulfur ice mixture.

8. Saturn’s rings is the largest in the solar system

Saturn’s rings are mostly made of chunks of ice and small amounts of carbon dust. The ring extends more than 120,700 km from the planet, but is very thin, only about 20 meters thick.

Actually all the gas giants (planets) in the solar system have rings, but none are as large or as large as Saturn. Saturn’s rings are also the only ones visible from Earth.

Saturn’s rings were discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610 who observed them with a telescope.

The first close-up observations were made with the Pioneer 11 spacecraft flying near Saturn on September 1, 1971.

Saturn’s rings are made up of billions of particles that range in size from tiny dust grains to objects as large as mountains. They are all made up of chunks of ice and rock and are believed to have come from a comet asteroid or even the moon, which broke apart before reaching the planet.

Also read: Get to know the Solar System and Some Theories of the Formation of the Solar System

9. Saturn has storms

Hurricanes on Saturn are oval in shape, similar to Jupiter. The region around its north pole has a hexagonal-shaped cloud pattern. Scientists think this may be a wave pattern in the upper cloud.

This planet also has a vortex at its south pole that resembles a storm.

10. Has 150 moons and smaller moonlets

All moon of saturn is a frozen world. The largest moons are Titan and Rhea. Enceladus appears to have an ocean beneath its frozen surface.

Titan is a moon with a complex and dense nitrogen-rich atmosphere. Most of it consists of water ice and rock.

Its frozen surface features lakes of liquid methane and landscapes covered in frozen nitrogen. Planetary scientists regard Titan as a possible harbor for life, but not life like Earth.

Get updates news of choice and breaking news every day from Kompas.com. Let’s join the Telegram group “Kompas.com News Update”, how to click the link https://t.me/kompascomupdate, then join. You must first install the Telegram application on your cellphone.–