Saturn

Also known as ♄, Sol VI, Sol 6

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth of the average density of Earth, but is over 95 times more massive. Even though Saturn is almost as big as Jupiter, Saturn has less than a third of its mass. Saturn orbits the Sun at a distance of , with an orbital period of 29.45 years.

AI overview

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in our Solar System, notable for being a massive gas giant with distinctive low density—only one-eighth that of Earth despite being 95 times more massive overall. Scientists and space enthusiasts study Saturn because its unique properties, extreme size, and 29.45-year orbit around the Sun make it a key subject for understanding how giant planets form and behave in our Solar System.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Key facts

Planet.name: Saturn
Planet.symbol: 24px|♄|class=skin-invert
Planet.image: 300px
Planet.caption: Saturn and its prominent rings, as captured by the Cassini orbiter
Planet.background: Wheat
Planet.named_after: Saturn
Planet.adjectives: Saturnian , Cronian / Kronian
Planet.epoch: J2000.0
Planet.time_periastron: 2032-Nov-29
Planet.synodic_period: 378.09 days
Planet.satellites: 285 with formal designations; innumerable additional moonlets.
Planet.circumference: (equatorial)
Planet.density: Earths
Planet.rotation: 10 h 32 m 36 s; 10.5433 hours, 10 h 39 m; 10.7 hours
Planet.axial_tilt: 26.73°
Planet.right_asc_north_pole: 40.589°;
Planet.declination: 83.537°
Planet.temp_name1: 1 bar

via Wikipedia infobox

Research

2,062 papers

Saturn: atmosphere, ionosphere, and magnetosphere.ReviewScience (New York, N.Y.) · 2010Gombosi TI, Ingersoll APDOI: 10.1126/science.1179119
Geologic Constraints on the Formation and Evolution of Saturn's Mid-Sized Moons.ReviewSpace science reviews · 2024Rhoden AR, Ferguson SN, Bottke W et al.DOI: 10.1007/s11214-024-01084-z
An evolving view of Saturn's dynamic rings.ReviewScience (New York, N.Y.) · 2010Cuzzi JN, Burns JA, Charnoz S et al.DOI: 10.1126/science.1179118
Saturn's F ring is intermittently shepherded by Prometheus.Science advances · 2024Cuzzi JN, Marouf EA, French RG et al.DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adl6601
Saturn's largest ring.Nature · 2009Verbiscer AJ, Skrutskie MF, Hamilton DPDOI: 10.1038/nature08515
How Saturn got its tilt and its rings.Science (New York, N.Y.) · 2022El Moutamid MDOI: 10.1126/science.abq3184
Saturn's moon Mimas may have a vast hidden ocean.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Tillman NTDOI: 10.1073/pnas.2519269122
Long-lasting, deep effect of Saturn's giant storms.Science advances · 2023Li C, de Pater I, Moeckel C et al.DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adg9419

via PubMed

Wikidata facts

Demonym: زُحَلِيٌّ
Area: 42700000000
Distance from Earth: 1660000000
Diameter: 120536
Radius: 54364
Mass: 568360
Orbital period: 10757.7365
Image: 8423 20181 1saturn2016.jpg
Speed: 9.137

Show 25 more facts

Commons category: Saturn (planet)
orbital eccentricity: 0.05386179
Commons gallery: Saturn
semi-major axis of an orbit: 9.554909
argument of periapsis: 92.59887831
longitude of ascending node: 113.66242448
orbital inclination: 0.93
flattening: 0.09796
synodic period: 378.0944
density: 0.867
periapsis: 9.04807635
apoapsis: 10.11595804
albedo: 0.342
magnetic moment: 45999999999999996007022592
absolute magnitude: 28
surface gravity: 8.96
mean anomaly: 317.020
volume as quantity: 827130000000000
temperature: 134
angular diameter: 20.1
apparent magnitude: -0.24
Unicode character: ♄
Stack Exchange tag: astronomy.stackexchange.com/tags/saturn
IPA transcription: zaˈtʊʁn
rotation period: 10.7

Sources (15)

via Wikidata · CC0

~31 min read

Article

27 sections

Contents

Name and symbol
Physical characteristics
Internal structure
Rotation
Oblateness
Atmosphere
Cloud layers
Hexagonal cloud patterns
Magnetosphere
Orbit and observation
Observation
Natural satellites
Planetary rings
History of observation and exploration
Pre-telescopic observation
Telescopic pre-spaceflight observations
Spaceflight missions
''Pioneer 11'' flyby
''Voyager'' flybys
''Cassini–Huygens'' spacecraft
Possible future missions
In fiction
See also
Notes
References
Further reading
External links

Saturn's interior is thought to be composed of a rocky core, surrounded by a deep layer of metallic hydrogen, an intermediate layer of liquid hydrogen and liquid helium, and an outer layer of gas. Saturn has a pale yellow hue, due to ammonia crystals in its upper atmosphere. An electrical current in the metallic hydrogen layer is thought to give rise to Saturn's planetary magnetic field, which is weaker than Earth's, but has a magnetic moment 580 times that of Earth because of Saturn's greater size. Saturn's magnetic field strength is about a twentieth that of Jupiter. The outer atmosphere is generally bland and lacking in contrast, although long-lived features can appear. Wind speeds on Saturn can reach .