Saturn A Planet’s Story, by Aaron Johnson

Saturn’s Name Saturn was named after the Greek Lord of Titans and god of Agriculture, Kronos ( also known as Saturn).

Where is Saturn!? Saturn is the 6th planet from the sun and two planets beyond the Asteroid Belt. Due to its irregular orbit, Saturn can vary from being 840,440,000 miles away from the sun at closest and 941,070,000 miles away at farthest.

Saturn’s Orbit/Axis Saturn tilts at a 27 degrees angle. It is the 2nd fastest rotator, a day on Saturn being only 10 hours and 39 minutes. This is only about two hours longer than an average school day. It takes about 10,759 earth days (29.5 years) for Saturn to orbit the sun.

Saturn’s Size That’s big. Saturn is the 2nd largest planet in the solar system, just smaller than Jupiter, but being a gas giant, it is less dense than water. Ironically, Saturn’s mass is 95 times greater than Earth’s. If a man weighing 100 pounds went to Saturn, he would weigh 107 pounds. That’s big.

Saturn’s Atmospheric Conditions Saturn’s atmosphere consists of mainly hydrogen and helium, giving Saturn a thick atmosphere. At the surface of Saturn’s atmosphere, temperatures average out at -285 degrees F*. Below the atmosphere temperatures are warmer. Saturn’s seasons are much more extreme than Earth’s because of Saturn’s 27* axis. Brrrrrr.

Saturn’s Rings Saturn is always surrounded by rings composed of ice, rock, space dust, and other loose space material. Although Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune have rings too, Saturn gets the most credit because its rings are easiest to see from Earth.

Saturn’s Moons Saturn has 19 official moons, and 50 total moons. This number can vary due to space rocks and asteroids from Saturn’s rings drifting away and becoming what’s called shepherd moons. Like Saturn, many of Saturn’s moon’s names are derived from Greek mythology. Some examples are Pan (the Greek god of the wild) Atlas (the Greek titan that holds up the sky) Janus (the Greek god of doorways and decisions) and Rhea (the wife of Kronos/Saturn and mother to all Greek gods).

Fast Facts Saturn is 4.5 billion years old, about as old as the sun. If you stepped onto Saturn, you would either instantly die by its toxic atmosphere or by the winds that could easily toss you around like a ragdoll. Saturn is the farthest planet from the sun that can be seen by the naked eye.

The End