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Solar System Project: Saturn

By: Jesse McConnico Shelby Slauer , Erin Crawford, Sam Chung. Solar System Project: Saturn. Terrestrial or Jovian?. Saturn is a Jovian (Gas Giant) planet. Basic Properties/Statistics. tilt: 26.73° direction of rotation on axis: counterclockwise length of day: 10 hours 39 minutes

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Solar System Project: Saturn

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  1. By: Jesse McConnico Shelby Slauer, Erin Crawford, Sam Chung Solar System Project: Saturn

  2. Terrestrial or Jovian? • Saturn is a Jovian (Gas Giant) planet

  3. Basic Properties/Statistics • tilt: 26.73° • direction of rotation on axis: counterclockwise • length of day: 10 hours 39 minutes • length of year: 10759 earth days (29.5 years) • distance from sun: 8.882 x10^8 miles/1.429 x10^9/9.54 AUs • average night/day temp: -125 degrees for both • mass compared to earth: 95 times greater than earth’s (5.68x10^26 kg) • density compared to earth: 0.13 times greater than earth’s (687.00 kg/m^3) • general structure and comp: 75% hydrogen, 25% helium, with traces of water, methane, and ammonia

  4. Atmosphere • Every ring of Saturn has its own atmosphere. (There are 8-9 rings on Saturn.) • Consists of gases such as hydrogen and helium. These are the basic gases found on all giant gas planets. • Saturn’s atmosphere has three layers of gas. These layers are determined by their temperature. • One of the windiest places in the solar system with winds up to 1800km/hr (1118 mi/hr) • temperature in the troposphere ranges from about -130°C to about 80°C • Cloud deck’s temperature below the troposphere is about -250°C • Second Cloud layer is -70°C • Third, and final, Cloud layer is 0°C

  5. Rings • Saturn is the only planet with visible rings around it. The rings are not solid, but are made of separate parts. • As they reflect about 80% of the light, there is every reason for thinking that they are chunks of ice, though gravel, dust, rocks, and similar objects can also be among them. All these particles orbit the planet individually. • Every ring has its own atmosphere. They are impossible to see without a telescope. • There are approximately 8-9 rings on Saturnthat can be seen with powerful telescopes • May measure as much as 180,000 miles across

  6. Surface features • Saturn does not have a solid surface, it is a giant ball of gas with a fluid surface. • Seems to have a solid inner core made of iron • Saturn is the least dense planet (1/10th that of earth’s) • Gravity is 10.44m/s^2 • The pressure is so high that not only will freezing temperatures turn objects into solid ice but the high level of pressure will crush objects before it hits the surface. • When viewed from earth, it looks flattened at the poles

  7. Moons • Saturn has 62 moons as of 2012. • Titan is the largest of Saturn’s moons. It’s the only known satellite known to have a dense atmosphere. It is primarily composed of rocky material and water ice. • The atmosphere of Titan is mostly composed of nitrogen. Titan was the first known moon of Saturn, and is the second largest moon in the solar system – 50% larger than Earth’s moon and 80% more massive. • Titan has oceans, shores, rivers, mountains and valleys that flow with hydrocarbons • Temperature stays around -289° F

  8. Who discovered Saturn? • Saturn is one of 5 planets that you can see with the unaided eye. • Has been known since prehistoric times. Therefore, nobody really knows who discovered Saturn. • Named after Roman god of agriculture • Galileo was the first to observe it with a telescope in 1610

  9. Notable missions • There have been 4 missions to Saturn thus far: Pioneer II, Voyager I, Voyager II, and Cassini/Huygens. • In the Pioneer II mission, the first ever close up pictures of Saturn were taken, and a previously unknown ring was discovered. • In the Voyager I mission, stunning images of Saturn and its rings were taken and the spacecraft flew by Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, as well. • In the Voyager II mission, the spacecraft flew by several of Saturn’s other moons and ended up taking a tour of our entire solar system. • Cassini/Huygens spacecraft was sent out to study Saturn in depth. The Huygens probe was sent out to study Titan. Many new discoveries about Saturn have been made because of this mission – oceans and seas of hydrocarbons found on Titan -- and it is said that it will continue to study and orbit Saturn for many more years.

  10. Works Cited • http://1howmany.com/how-many-rings-does-saturn-have • http://planetfacts.org/surface-of-saturn/ • http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/saturn/saturnmoons.shtml • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_(moon) • http://www.universetoday.com/46237/who-discovered-saturn/ • http://www.universetoday.com/15400/missions-to-saturn/

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