Astrophysics (Index)About

Saturn

(second largest planet in the solar system)

Saturn is the second largest planet in the solar system and the sixth planet counting outward from the Sun and the third outermost. It is known for having a ring system: flat, visible rings of material around it, within the plane of its equator. (Similar but lesser ring systems have been detected around other solar system planets now that space probes have viewed them from nearby. ) To some extent, Saturn's ring system has served as a physical example of an astrophysical disk, being close enough for detailed study. Among Saturn's 80+ known moons are Titan, Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Iapetus, and Hyperion. Characteristics of Saturn:

Space missions to Saturn have included Pioneer, Voyager, and Cassini. Its distance from Earth limits the number of such missions. The Cassini mission was long and extensive and vastly increased our knowledge about Saturn and its moons, and revealed Enceladus to be a prime candidate for extraterrestrial life. Concepts developed for possible future Saturn-system missions include Dragonfly and Enceladus Life Finder.


(planet,solar system)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploration_of_Saturn
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moons_of_Saturn
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Saturn
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/saturn/overview/
RedshiftParsecs
/Distance
Lightyears
/Lookback Years
  
~08AU~0lynearestSaturn
~011AU~0lyfurthestSaturn

Referenced by pages:
10199 Chariklo
astronomical symbol
axisymmetric
C/2014 UN271
Cassini
circumplanetary disk
convection zone
crustal plates
Dragonfly (NF4)
Dragonfly Telephoto Array
Enceladus
Enceladus Life Finder (ELF)
Enceladus Orbilander
equilibrium temperature (Teq)
extra-solar planet
flyby
gas giant
gas planet
giant planet
grand tack hypothesis
gravity sounding
Hadley cell
helium rain
Hyperion
ice
ice giant
J1407
J2
jet stream
Kepler-16b
magnetic field
magnitude
metal
metallic hydrogen
moment of inertia factor
moon
Neptune
obliquity
planetary protection
polar cyclone
pulsar timing array (PTA)
radiation belt
radiation zone
ring system
Roche limit
rotation period
shepherd moon
solar day
solar system object (SSO)
spiral density wave
supercritical fluid (SCF)
superrotating wind
tidal heating
tidal migration
TiNy Titans (TNT)
Titan
Titius-Bode law
transit
Uranus
Voyager
zone

Index