Spark and Perl go looking
I am going to walk along the rings.
Do try.
They are not solid! They are snowballs!
That one is as big as a shed!
Millions of lumps of ice, all travelling round together.
How wide are the rings?
Nearly far enough to reach from your house to the Moon.
And they are so thin that edge-on they disappear.
Right. I shall land on the planet instead and watch them from below.
There is no ground.
…None at all? Then the rings are the only thing here you could touch.
And they are not one thing. They are millions of separate pieces.
The planet is cloud. The deeper you go the thicker it gets, and right at the bottom it turns into liquid metal.
Yes — a steady yellow light that does not twinkle.
It is up for several months of the year.
You can see it from anywhere in the world — but not every night. Sometimes it is hiding in the light of the Sun.
Where to find Saturn, and when
Where the Earth is clear, it climbs high in the sky. The darker it gets, the lower it stays. Where it is black, it never comes up. No shading at all: it does not matter where you live.
What do I need to see Saturn?
You can see it with just your eyes.
Binoculars with 10× magnification show it, if you rest them on a fence or a wall.
A 150 mm telescope is what shows it properly. This picture is about 200× — which is what that telescope gives on a good night.
At that magnification it drifts out of view while you watch.
The rings are the first thing you see. Most people go quiet.
Put the planets in size orderPut the planets in orderJump the solar systemCould you stand on a planet or moon?Eyes, binoculars, or telescope?Which one does not belong?
Space
Put the planets in size order
Read on
Go and look