Exploring Saturn!

Saturn is the fifth brightest object in the solar system and can be seen with the naked eye. It can also be easily studied through a small telescope.
It is named for the Roman god Saturnus, and was known to the Greeks as Cronus including the Babylonians and Far Eastern observers. Saturn is the flattest planet in the solar system.
Saturn has the polar diameter is 90% of its equatorial diameter; this is due to its low density and fast rotation.
Saturn orbits the Sun once every 29.4 Earth years. Due to this slow movement against the backdrop of stars earned it the nickname of “Lubadsagush”. The name means “oldest of the old”.
Saturn’s upper atmosphere is divided into different bands of clouds. The top layers are mostly ammonia ice. Below them, the clouds consists water ice. Below are layers of cold hydrogen and sulfur ice mixtures.
Saturn has oval-shaped storms are similar to Jupiter. The area around its north pole has a hexagonal-shaped pattern of clouds. The planet also has a vortex over its south pole that is similar to a hurricane-like storm.
The Planet is made mostly of hydrogen. The gas exists in layers that get denser into the planet. And on the other hand, the hydrogen becomes metallic deep inside and at the core lays a hot interior.
Saturn has the most immense rings in the solar system. The Saturnian rings are made mostly of chunks of ice and small amounts of carbonaceous dust. These rings but are amazingly thin: only about 20 meters thick but stretch out more than 120,700 km from the planet.
Saturn has 150 moons along with smaller moonlets. The largest moons are Titan and Rhea.
Four spacecraft have visited Saturn. Pioneer 11, Voyager 1 and 2, and the Cassini-Huygens mission have visited the planet sending back a treasure of data about the planet, its moons, and rings.
Saturn’s Exclusive Rings
All the gas giants in our solar system have rings but none of them are as exclusive or peculiar as Saturn’s ring. The rings were discovered by Galileo Galilei 1610 who observed them with a telescope. The first ‘up close’ view of the rings were by Pioneer 11 spacecraft visited on September 1, 1971.
Saturn’s rings are made up of billions of particles that range in size from tiny dust grains to large objects .These are made up of pieces of ice and rocks. Saturn’s rings are divided into 7 groups, alphabetically named in the order of their discovery (Outwards from Saturn; D, C, B, A, F, G and E). The F ring is kept in place by two of Saturn’s moons.
Saturn’s Atmosphere
Planet’s atmosphere is consists of hydrogen (96%) and helium (3%) with pieces of other substances like methane, ammonia, acetylene, ethane, propane and phosphine. Winds in the upper atmosphere of planet can reach speeds of 500 metres per second; these winds are the combination of within the planet’s interior developing yellow and gold bands.

By: Saksham Gupta
Content: https://space-facts.com/saturn/