Saturn facts 22 cool facts about the planet saturn. Saturn and its spectacular rings, in a naturalcolour composite of 126 images taken by the cassini spacecraft on october 6, 2004. Many people think that saturn is the only planet to have rings. Book cover of emily stehr interesting history of the planet saturn. They also found braided rings, ringlets, and spokes, dark features in the rings. The rings surround saturn at its equator but do not make contact with planet itself. See more ideas about solar system projects, saturn, planet project. The rings of saturn by wg sebald walking through history. The most recently discovered ring is at least 200 times the diameter of the planet and could fit one billion earths. A few of the things which cross the path and mind of its narrator who both is and is not sebald are lonely eccentrics, sir thomas brownes skull, a matchstick model of the temple of jerusalem, recessionhit seaside towns, wooded hills, joseph conrad. Or maybe theyre relatively brand new compared to the age of saturn. This is the first of three novels that wollheim wrote for the winston company, the other two being the secret of the martian moons 1955 and the secret of the ninth planet 1959.
You will notice a large gap between the a and b rings this is called the cassini division named after italian scientist giovanni cassini who discovered the gap and whom the nasa probe currently orbiting saturn is named after. Evident here are the numerous spoke features in the b ring. If there were a body of water large enough to hold it, saturn would float. Did you know saturn could sail and other fun facts by. The most recently discovered ring is at least 200 times the diameter of the planet and could fit one billion. The rings stretch out more than 120,700 km from the planet, but are are amazingly thin. This is the same kind of gas that you put in balloons. Saturn is also the father of jupiter, the king of the roman gods. Facts about saturns rings, moons and more nbc news.
Earth makes passes through the ring plane every to 15 years, about every half saturn year, and there are about equal chances of either a single or three crossings occurring in each such occasion. Its possible that saturns rings have been around since the beginning of the solar system around 4. The particles in the rings are made almost entirely of water ice, with just a small amount of dust and other chemicals. It is 15,500 miles 25,000km across thats twice as wide as earth. The rings of our favorite gas giant are actually named in alphabetical order based on the time they were discovered, to date the rings have only reached g but working from the planet out, the letters go d, c, b, a, f, g, e with the d ring being a very faint ring and continue reading 5 fascinating facts about saturns rings. Saturns ring system extends up to 175,000 miles 282,000 kilometers from the planet, yet the vertical height is typically about 30 feet 10 meters in the main rings. His books include the science of shakespeare and in search of time. Saturn could sail and other fun facts by hannah eliot, laura lyn disiena illustrator aaron spurgeon, pete oswald.
So when humans finally colonize the stars, well be able to shoot the scifi remake of the lotr trilogy on mount doom itself. Wollheim and was first published in the united states by the john c. Saturn has 62 known moons, fiftythree have been named. The rings of saturn are massive, ranging from a distance of 7,000 to 80,000 kilometers away from the surface of the planet. They consist of many small particles, ranging in size from microscopic to the size of a bus or bigger that form clumps that move around saturn. Saturns rings probably formed when objects like comets, asteroids, or even moons broke up in orbit around saturn due to saturns very strong gravity. The rings of our favorite gas giant are actually named in alphabetical order based on the time they were discovered, to date the rings have only reached g but working from the planet out, the letters go d, c, b, a, f, g, e with the d ring being a very faint ring and continue reading 5. Wow facts wtf fun facts weird animal facts crazy facts random facts random things random stuff astronomy facts space and astronomy unbelievable facts on saturns moon titan, the gravity is low enough and the atmosphere thick enough, that by attaching small wings to your arms, you could fly like a bird.
In the early 1980s, nasa s two voyager spacecraft revealed that saturn s rings are made mostly of water ice. When i was a child, i had a dogeared book on the solar system, which i read. The creation of saturn and its rings reminds me of some prose written by the revered astronomer and science communicator carl sagan in his book contact. When compared to our planet, saturn is nine times larger than earth. A few of the things which cross the path and mind of its narrator who both is and is not sebald are lonely eccentrics, sir thomas brownes skull, a matchstick model of the temple of jerusalem, recessionhit seaside towns. Children decorate and compose their own 3d book of saturn facts. The secret of saturn s rings is a sciencefiction novel by donald a. He wrote to the duke of tuscany that the planet saturn is not alone, but is composed of three, which almost touch one another and never move nor change with respect to one another. A larger telescope show that there are multiple rings. Saturn was the god of agriculture in roman mythology.
Wow facts wtf fun facts weird animal facts crazy facts random facts random things random stuff astronomy facts space and astronomy unbelievable facts on saturns moon titan, the gravity is low enough and the atmosphere thick enough, that by attaching small. Over 60 bright and dark ringlets show up in this color enhanced image from voyager 2 data. Whether saturn had any rings at all continued to be questioned into the 19th century. The view is directed toward saturns southern hemisphere, which is tipped toward the sun. In total saturn has seven rings, each made up of thousands of smaller ringlets. The prose is a dialogue made by his protagonist, also an astronomer, in response to the dismissal and sporadic belittling of childlike inquisition and the beauty of scientific inquiry. Saturns volume is greater than 760 earths, and it is the second most massive planet in the solar system, about 95 times earths mass. Discovering saturn saturn s year a day on saturn cold and stormy cool facts saturn s moons giant titan beautiful rings trips to saturn exploring saturn. There are billions of these particles and they vary in size from specs of dust to rocks as big as a bus. The outermost planet visible without a telescope, the roman name saturn honors the god of agriculture. Saturns stunning rings make it the easiest planet to recognize, but it still has secrets. Saturns most recognizable features are its rings, the largest of which is more than180,000 miles wide but only a few thousand feet thick.
They also range from around 10 meters to a whole kilometer in thickness, with some major gaps in the rings. These pieces gradually spread around saturn to form its rings. The rings are about 400,000 kilometers 240,000 miles wide. Do we know more about the planet saturn or about its rings and moons. In a carefully timed observation, a definitive shadow was expected to be cast on the ring plane by saturn s moon, titan.
Astronomers still dont fully understand the origin of saturns rings. Voyager 1 does a flyby of saturn in 1980 and shows the structure of saturns ring system which is made up of thousands of ringlets. Saturn has the most extensive rings in the solar system. It spins so fast that it has flattened out on the top and bottom and widened in the middle, by the equator, just like the earth. Galileo galilei was the first to observe the rings of saturn in 1610 using his telescope, but was unable to identify them as such. For comparison, if saturn were the size of a basketball, its rings would only be about 1250 the thickness of a human hair. From earth the rings that have been named a and b look like they are separated by a large gap. Galileo was the first to spot them with a telescope, but they were first understood to be rings by huygens in the 17th century.
Like neptune, saturn is a large gas planet made mostly of hydrogen and helium. They have revealed many surprising things about saturns rings. Or that earth could fit inside jupiter more than 1,000 times. In the early 1980s, nasas two voyager spacecraft revealed that saturns rings are made mostly of water ice.
This is the first of three novels that wollheim wrote for the winston company, the other two being the secret of the martian moons 1955 and the secret of the ninth planet 1959 this is also one of the thirtyfive juvenile novels. The rings of saturnwith its curious archive of photographsrecords a walking tour of the eastern coast of england. Aka cool facts about saturns rings to look at while you are engaged in the stem activity why are there gaps in saturns rings. They span a huge distance up to 120,700 km outward, but are extremely thin with an average thickness of just 10 meters. The rings of saturn saturns rings are made up of mostly ice particles with some dust and rocks as well. There are two main theories regarding the origin of the rings. Saturn is the sixth planet from the sun and the second largest. It is the second largest planet in our solar system. I picked this book because it gives fun facts about the solar system in a interesting way with awesome illustrations.
Oct 20, 2017 the creation of saturn and its rings reminds me of some prose written by the revered astronomer and science communicator carl sagan in his book contact. The secret of saturns rings is a sciencefiction novel by donald a. A few of the things which cross the path and mind of its narrator who both is and is not sebald are lonely eccentrics, sir thomas browne s skull, a matchstick model of the temple of jerusalem, recessionhit seaside towns, wooded hills, joseph conrad. But spacecraft have now found ice and dust inside the dark cassini division. How about that neil armstrong was also an aerospace engineer, naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. In fact, their thickness is less than the length of a football field.
The saturnian rings are made mostly of chunks of ice and small amounts of carbonaceous dust. Ring b is the widest and brightest of saturns rings. Spinart saturn diy template of saturns rings to learn. Mar 26, 2018 aka cool facts about saturn s rings to look at while you are engaged in the stem activity why are there gaps in saturn s rings. Discovering saturn saturns year a day on saturn cold and stormy cool facts saturns moons giant titan beautiful rings trips to saturn exploring saturn. List of fun facts about saturn, the real lord of the rings. Saturn is flattened at the poles, due to a fast rotation on its axis.
Its easy to enumerate more than 10 interesting facts about saturn, the sixth planet in the solar system, from the fact that its lighter than water, to the secrets of its subterranean ocean. Saturns rings are one of the most striking features of the solar system. Saturns rings could be old, or they could be young. Five facts about saturn, the ringed gas giant planet. Saturns rings are very large and wide, but they are also very thin. Filled with tons of cool facts about outer space, plus colorful, humorous.
Back in the 60s, the beatles wanted to make a movie adaptation of lord of the rings, with stanley kubrick. The main rings could almost go from earth to the moon. Think of saturn hanging in space, glowing like a streetlamp in fog, the tilt of its recordgroove rings suggesting something imaginative, or even mad. The most recognizable planet with a system of icy rings, saturn is a very unique and interesting planet. The small color differences in saturn s rings have been enhanced in this picture from voyager 2 data. Beyond that are two far fainter rings named g and e. Saturn interesting facts about the planet with rings saturn. Six weeks after returning from the jovian system, david lucky starr learns that jack dorrance, the chief of a sirian spy ring.
The 1981 flyby of voyager 2 includes a lot more detail of saturn in images and data collected showed that some of the rings are very thin. This raw image of saturns icy moon rhea was taken on march 10, 20 by nasas cassini spacecraft, and received on earth march 10, 20. The view is directed toward saturn s southern hemisphere, which is tipped toward the sun. Apr 01, 2020 saturn and its spectacular rings, in a naturalcolour composite of 126 images taken by the cassini spacecraft on october 6, 2004. Saturns rings are the only ones that can be seen from earth. The weird worlds of saturn and its array of moons show a bounty of treasures that space missions are just beginning to reveal. Dawes, carefully concluded in 1862 that the rings must be. Saturns rings are roughly 175,000 miles long, although they are only about 3,200 feet thick. The gas giant planet saturn has a large group of moons. Jan 05, 2016 jupiter is the beast to saturns beauty. Saturn is a gas giant made up mostly of hydrogen and helium. The rings are made of chunks of rock and ice some just tiny pieces of dust, some more than half a mile one km across.
The d ring is exceedingly faint and closest to the planet. The rings of saturn with its curious archive of photographs records a walking tour along the east coast of england. Nov 08, 2016 so, while the rings of saturn is ostensibly an account of a walking tour through the eastern coastal area of england, the range of the book is nearly limitless. Optional leader reading, from activity 3 minibook those amazing rings download. The rings of saturn are the planetary rings around the planet saturn, whch can be seen with a small telescope. Saturn interesting facts about the planet with rings. Aug, 2015 most of all, the rings of saturn is a triumph of tone. Shadows cast by the rings are visible against the bluish northern hemisphere, while the planets shadow is projected on the rings to the left. Named alphabetically in the order they were discovered, the rings are relatively close to each other, with the exception of a gap measuring 2,920 miles 4,700 kilometers wide. As well as being the second largest planet, saturn is the fifth brightest object in earths skies. Most of all, the rings of saturn is a triumph of tone. Scientists programmed the craft to plunge into saturns atmosphere where it burned up, rather than have it litter the planets beautiful ring system. It goes over cool facts about saturn mostly, but does cover the other planets as well. Saturn facts for kids interesting facts about planet saturn.
Saturn is the secondlargest planet in the solar system. Uranus and neptune also have rings, they are just much lighter and harder to see. You will notice a large gap between the a and b rings this is called the cassini division named after italian scientist giovanni cassini who discovered the gap and whom the nasa probe currently orbiting saturn is. The rings show a tremendous amount of structure on all scales, some related to perturbations by saturn s moons, but much unexplained. You can find out more interesting facts about saturns rings here. Sep 14, 2017 saturn s rings are one of the most striking features of the solar system. May 12, 2020 they have revealed many surprising things about saturn s rings. The mountains on titan, saturns moon, are named in honor of tolkiens work. They start at about 6000km above the surface and go to 120,000km with some gaps. In a carefully timed observation, a definitive shadow was expected to be cast on the ring plane by saturns moon, titan.
They encircle the sixth planet from the sun in bizarre configurations, each thousands of miles wide but just a few dozen. Cassini has taught us a lot about saturn so, in memory of this historic craft, heres a list of fun facts about saturn, the real lord of the rings. The small color differences in saturns rings have been enhanced in this picture from voyager 2 data. Sep 19, 2017 scientists programmed the craft to plunge into saturns atmosphere where it burned up, rather than have it litter the planets beautiful ring system. And despite sebalds ravenous curiosity about the world.
With a diameter of 120,536 km, saturn is the second largest planet behind jupiter. Several fainter rings were discovered more recently. It also has the largest, most complex, and bestknown ring system in our solar system saturns moon titan is one of the few moons in the solar system with much of an atmosphere. The pieces of these objects kept colliding with each other and broke into even smaller pieces. Saturns rings highresolution december 17, 2004 voyager 2 obtained this highresolution picture of saturns rings on august 22, 1981 when the spacecraft was 4 million kilometers 2. The mountains on titan, saturn s moon, are named in honor of tolkien s work. Read 14 fun facts about saturns rings by jeannie meekins available from rakuten kobo. Five facts about saturn, the ringed gas giant planet nova pbs.
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