Saturn's rings are countless chunks of ice and rock — from dust specks to houses — and so wide they would almost reach from Earth to the Moon.
Also called: the planet with rings.
Ringed gas giant, low density enough it would float in water, hexagonal polar storm.
Planet: Round, orbits a star, and has swept its orbit clear. Every kind of thing there is →
Its position moves, so there is no fixed place on a map to point at. The Planetarium works out where it is for your own place and date.
A calm golden "star" — the rings hide until you point a telescope at it.
The showstopper — a pale disc wrapped in its rings.
Honest, not glamorous — why the pictures here are drawn.
Saturn is almost as big across as Jupiter. In weight, about 95 Earths' worth. Almost 10 times Earth's distance from the Sun. Sunlight takes 79 minutes to reach Saturn — on average, because that distance changes as it goes round. Its year: about the time from being born to turning 29. Its day: ~10.7 hours.
| Across | 116 464 km |
|---|---|
| Distance from the Sun, on average | 9.5 AU ~1.4 billion km · sunlight takes 79 minutes |
| Once round its orbit | 29.5 Earth years |
| One day there | 10.7 hours |
| Temperature | -140 °C (from -185 to -122) |
| Made of, among other things | ammonia, methane, water |
Nobody flew a tape measure out there. Every number on this page was worked out from the ground:
Clear tonight? The Planetarium will show you what is worth a look. Then just go out.