My Favorite Planet NIQUE

7/31/2019 My Favorite Planet NIQUE

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My

FavoritePlanet

Thealy Dominique L.

Silva
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=8983http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=8983http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=8983http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=8983


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March 7, 2012

SATURNAdorned with thousands of beautiful ringlets, Saturn is unique

among the planets. All four gas giant planets have rings -- made of

chunks of ice and rock -- but none are as spectacular or as

complicated as Saturn's. Like the other gas giants, Saturn is mostly a

massive ball of hydrogen and helium.

Saturn was the most distant of the five planets known to the

ancients. In 1610, Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei was the first to gaze

at Saturn through a telescope. To his surprise, he saw a pair of objects on

either side of the planet. He sketched them as separate spheres, thinking

that Saturn was triple-bodied. Continuing his observations over the next

few years, Galileo drew the lateral bodies as arms or handles attached toSaturn. In 1659, Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens, using a more

powerful telescope than Galileo's, proposed that Saturn was surrounded

by a thin, flat ring. In 1675, Italian-born astronomer Jean-Dominique

Cassini discovered a division between what are now called the A and B

rings.


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Saturn in Ultraviolet Light

INTRODUCTION

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and is the second largest in the

solar system with an equatorial diameter of 119,300 kilometers (74,130

miles).

Much of what is known about the planet is due to the Voyager

explorations in 1980-81.

Saturn is visibly flattened at the poles, a result of the very fast rotationof the planet on its axis. Its day is 10 hours, 39 minutes long, and it

takes 29.5 Earth years to revolve about the Sun.

The atmosphere is primarily composed of hydrogen with small amounts

of helium and methane.

Saturn is the only planet less dense than water (about 30 percent less).

In the unlikely event that a large enough ocean could be found, Saturn

would float in it.

Saturn's hazy yellow hue is marked by broad atmospheric banding

similar to, but fainter than, that found on Jupiter.


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RING SYSTEM

Saturn's ring system makes the planet one of the most beautiful objects inthe solar system.

The rings are split into a number of different parts, which include the bright

A and B rings and a fainter C ring.

The ring system has various gaps. The most notable gap is the Cassini [kah-

SEE-nee] Division, which separates the A and B rings.

Giovanni Cassini discovered this division in 1675.

The Encke [EN-kee] Division, which splits the A Ring, is named after

Johann Encke, who discovered it in 1837.

Space probes have shown that the main rings are really made up of a large

number of narrow ringlets. The origin of the rings is obscure.

It is thought that the rings may have been formed from larger moons that

were shattered by impacts of comets and meteoroids.

The ring composition is not known for certain, but the rings do show a

significant amount of water.

They may be composed of icebergs and/or snowballs from a few centimeters

to a few meters in size.

Much of the elaborate structure of some of the rings is due to the

gravitational effects of nearby satellites.

This phenomenon is demonstrated by the relationship between the F-ring

and two small moons that shepherdthe ring material.
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=10164


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The rings of Saturn have puzzled astronomers since Galileo Galileidiscovered them with his telescope in 1610.

Detailed study by the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft in the 1980s onlyincreased the mystery.

There are billions of ring particles in the entire ring system.

The ring particle sizes range from tiny, dust-sized icy grains to a fewparticles as large as mountains.

Two tiny moons orbit in gaps (Encke and Keeler gaps) in the rings and keepthe gaps open.

Other particles (10s to 100s of meters) are too tiny to see, but createpropeller-shaped objects in the rings that let us know they are there.

The rings are believed to be pieces of comets, asteroids or shattered moonsthat broke up before they reached the planet.

Each ring orbits at a different speed around the planet.

Information from NASA's Cassini mission will help reveal how theyformed, how they maintain their orbit and, above all, why they are there in

the first place.

While the other three gas planets in the solar system -- Jupiter, Uranus andNeptune -- have rings orbiting around them, Saturn's are by far the largest

and most spectacular.

With a thickness of about one kilometer (3,200 feet) or less, they span up to282,000 km (175,000 miles), about three quarters of the distance between

the Earth and its Moon.

Named alphabetically in the order they were discovered, the rings arerelatively close to each other, with the exception of the Cassini Division, a

gap measuring 4,700 km (2,920 miles).

The main rings are, working outward from the planet, known as C, B and A.The Cassini Division is the largest gap in the rings and separates Rings B

and A.

This highly

enhanced

color view

was

assembled

from clear,

orange and

ultraviolet

frames


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In addition a number of fainter rings have been discovered more recently.The D Ring is exceedingly faint and closest to the planet. The F Ring is a

narrow feature just outside the A Ring.

Beyond that are two far fainter rings named G and E. The rings show a

tremendous amount of structure on all scales; some of this structure isrelated to gravitational perturbations by Saturn's many moons, but much of it

remains unexplained.

However, the spectacular crossing into Saturn's orbit brought incredibleinformation, images and footage.

The instruments onboard Cassini are still collecting unique data that mayanswer many questions about the rings' composition.

Reference: USGS Astrogeology: Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature -- Ring

Nomenclature

THE MOONS OF SATURN

Saturn, the sixth planet from the sun, is home to a vast array of intriguingand unique worlds.

From the cloud-shrouded surface of Titan to crater-riddled Phoebe, each ofSaturn's moons tells another piece of the story surrounding the Saturn

system.

Christiaan Huygens discovered the first known moon of Saturn. The yearwas 1655 and the moon was Titan.

Giovanni Domenico Cassini made the next four discoveries: Iapetus (1671),Rhea (1672), Dione (1684), and Tethys (1684).

Mimas and Enceladus were both discovered by William Herschel in 1789.

The next two discoveries came at intervals of 50 or more years -- Hyperion(1848) and Phoebe (1898).

As telescopic resolving power increased through the 19th century, Saturn'sfamily of known moons grew. In 1966 Epimetheus and Janus were

discovered. By the time Cassini-Huygens was launched in 1997, Saturn's moon count

had reached 18.

The number of known moons soon increased with high-resolution imagingtechniques used on ground-based telescopes. The Cassini mission has

discovered several more moons since its arrival at Saturn.

NASA discovered a total of 53 natural satellites orbiting Saturn. Each ofSaturn's moons bears a unique story.

Two of the moons orbit within gaps in the main rings. Some, such as

Prometheus and Pandora, interact with ring material, shepherding the ring inits orbit. Some small moons are trapped in the same orbits as Tethys or

Dione. Janus and Epimetheus occasionally pass close to each other, causing

them to periodically exchange orbits.

Here's a sampling of some of the unique aspects of the moons:- Titan is so large that it affects the orbits of other near-by moons. At 5,150 km (3,200

miles) across, it is the second largest moon in the solar system.
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Iapetushttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Rheahttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Dionehttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Mimashttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Enceladushttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Hyperionhttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Epimetheushttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Janushttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/profile.cfm?MCode=Cassinihttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Prometheushttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Pandorahttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Pandorahttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Prometheushttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/profile.cfm?MCode=Cassinihttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Janushttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Epimetheushttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Hyperionhttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Enceladushttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Mimashttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Dionehttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Rheahttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Iapetus


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- Iapetus has one side as bright as snow and one side as dark as black velvet, with a hugeridge running around most of its dark-side equator.

- Phoebe orbits the planet in a direction opposite that of Saturn's larger moons, as doseveral of the more recently discovered moons.

- Mimas has an enormous crater on one side, the result of an impact that nearly split themoon apart.

- Enceladus displays evidence of active ice volcanism: Cassini observed warm fractureswhere evaporating ice evidently escapes and forms a huge cloud of water vapor over the

South Pole.

- Hyperion has an odd flattened shape and rotates chaotically, probably due to a recentcollision.

- Pan orbits within the main rings and helps sweep materials out of a narrow space known as

the Encke Gap.

- Tethys has a huge rift zone called Ithaca Chasma that runs nearly three-quarters of the way

around the moon.

- Four moons orbit in stable places around Saturn called Lagrangian points. These places lie

60 degrees ahead of or behind a larger moon and in the same orbit. Telesto and Calypso

occupy the two Lagrangian points of Tethys in its orbit; Helene and Polydeuces occupy

the corresponding Lagrangian points of Dione.- Sixteen of Saturn's moons keep the same face toward the planet as they orbit. Called "tidal

locking," this is the same phenomenon that keeps our Moon always facing toward Earth.References:USGS Astrogeology: Gazetteer of Planetary NomenclaturePlanetary Body Names and DiscoverersSolar System Dynamics --Planetary Satellite Discovery Circumstances

Saturn and twoof its moons,

Tethys (above)and Dione
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Panhttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Telestohttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Calypsohttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Helenehttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Polydeuceshttp://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/append7.htmlhttp://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/append7.htmlhttp://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/append7.htmlhttp://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?sat_discoveryhttp://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?sat_discoveryhttp://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?sat_discoveryhttp://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00024http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?sat_discoveryhttp://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/append7.htmlhttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Polydeuceshttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Helenehttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Calypsohttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Telestohttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Sat_Pan


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Quintet of Moons

Date: 29 Jul 2011

A quintet of

Saturn's moons

come together in

the Cassini

spacecraft's field

of view for this

portrait.

Moon Quartet

Date: 27 Jul 2010

A quartet of

Saturn's moons are

shown with a sliver

of the rings in this

Cassini spacecraft

view.


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Saturn Ring-Plane CrossingDate: 22 May 1995

This image from the Hubble telescope documents a rare astronomical alignment:Saturn's magnificent ring system turned edge-on. This event occurs when the

Earth passes through Saturn's ring plane, as it does about every 15 years.

Saturn Statistics

Mass (kg) 5.688e+26

Mass (Earth = 1) 9.5181e+01

Equatorial radius (km) 60,268

Equatorial radius (Earth = 1) 9.4494e+00

Mean density (gm/cm^3) 0.69

Mean distance from the Sun (km) 1,429,400,000

Mean distance from the Sun (Earth = 1) 9.5388

Rotational period (hours) 10.233Orbital period (years) 29.458

Mean orbital velocity (km/sec) 9.67

Orbital eccentricity 0.0560


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Tilt of axis (degrees) 25.33

Orbital inclination (degrees) 2.488

Equatorial surface gravity (m/sec^2) 9.05

Equatorial escape velocity (km/sec) 35.49Visual geometric albedo 0.47

Magnitude (Vo) 0.67

Mean cloud temperature -125C

Atmospheric pressure (bars) 1.4

Atmospheric compositionHydrogen

Helium

97%

3%

Enchanting Saturn

Date: 15 Sep 2006

With giant Saturn hanging in

the blackness and sheltering

Cassini from the sun's

blinding glare, the spacecraft

viewed the rings as neverbefore, revealing previously

unknown faint rings and

even glimpsing its home

world


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FACTS AND FIGURES

Discovered By Known by the Ancients

Date of Discovery Unknown

Orbit Size Around

Saturn (semi-major

axis)

Metric: 1,426,666,422 km

English: 886,489,415 miles

Scientific Notation: 1.4266664 x 109 km (9.53667594 A.U.)

By Comparison: 9.537 x Earth

Perihelion (closest) Metric: 1,349,823,615 km


Scientific Notation: 1.34982 x 109

km (9.023 A.U.)


Aphelion (farthest) Metric: 1,503,509,229 km


Scientific Notation: 1.50351 x 109 km (1.005 x 101 A.U.)


Mean Radius Metric: 58,232 km

English: 36,183.7 miles


km


Mean Circumference Metric: 365,882.4 km

English: 227,348.8 miles

Scientific Notation: 3.65882 x 105 km


Volume Metric: 827,129,915,150,897 km3

English: 198,439,019,647,006 mi3

Scientific Notation: 8.2713 x 1014 km3


Mass Metric: 568,319,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg

Scientific Notation: 5.6832 x 1026 kg


Density Metric: 0.687 g/cm3


Surface Area Metric: 42,612,133,285 km2

English: 16,452,636,641 square miles


km2


Surface Gravity Metric: 10.4* m/s2

English: 34.3 ft/s2

By Comparison: If you weigh 100 pounds on Earth, you would weigh

about 107 pounds on Saturn (at the equator). *Derived from a 1 bar

radius of 60,268 km.


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Escape Velocity Metric: 129,924 km/h

English: 80,731 mph

Scientific Notation: 3.609 x 104 m/s

By Comparison: Escape velocity of Earth is 25,030 mph.

Sidereal Rotation

Period (Length of

Day)

0.444 Earth days

10.656 hours


Sidereal Orbit Period

(Length of Year)

29.447498 Earth years

10,755.70 Earth days


Average Orbit

Velocity

Metric: 34,701 km/h

English: 21,562 mph

Scientific Notation: 9.6391 x 104 m/s


Orbit Eccentricity 0.05386179


Orbit Inclination 2.49 degrees

Equatorial Inclination

to Orbit

26.7 degrees

Orbit Circumference Metric: 8,957,504,604 kmEnglish: 5,565,935,315 miles


km


Effective

Temperature

Metric: -178 C

English: -288 F

Scientific Notation: 95 K

Atmospheric

Constituents

Hydrogen, Helium

Scientific Notation: H2, He

By Comparison: Earth's atmosphere consists mostly of N2 and O2.

Additional Information:

Namesake: Roman god of agriculture.

References

Thomas, P., J. Veverka, D. Morrison, M. Davies. and T. V. Johnson. "Saturn's Small Satellites: Voyager Imaging

Results."Journal of Geophysical Research, November 1, 1983, 8743-8754.

Soderblom, Laurence A. and Torrence V. Johnson. "The Moons of Saturn." Scientific American, January 1982.

http://www.solarviews.com/eng/saturn.htm

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Saturn
http://www.solarviews.com/eng/saturn.htmhttp://www.solarviews.com/eng/saturn.htmhttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Saturnhttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Saturnhttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Saturnhttp://www.solarviews.com/eng/saturn.htm

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My Favorite Planet NIQUE