#6 from the Sun · planet

Saturn

토성
Jovian planet (gas giant)

The jewel of the Solar System, crowned by dazzling rings. So light it would float in water, if there were an ocean big enough.

Key Facts
Distance from Sun
9.58 AU (about 1.4335 billion km)
Diameter
116,460 km (9.1× Earth)
Orbital period
29.5 years
Rotation period
10.7 hours
Moons
140+ (Titan, Enceladus, ...)

Science

The science

Saturn is the most beloved planet for its dazzling rings. Made of countless fragments of ice and rock, the rings span wider than the distance from Earth to the Moon, yet are typically only tens of meters thick. Saturn's density is so low that it is the only planet in the Solar System lighter than water, light enough to float if there were an ocean big enough. Its largest moon, Titan, is a unique world with a thick atmosphere and rivers and lakes of methane, while the small moon Enceladus draws attention as a candidate for life, spraying plumes of water from an ocean beneath its icy shell.

Name & Myth

The story behind the name
Cronus's scythe

As the most distant planet visible to the naked eye and the slowest-moving in the sky, Saturn was given in the West the name of Saturnus, the god of time and agriculture and father of Jupiter (the Greek Cronus). The English word Saturday is Saturnus's very day. In East Asia, since it seemed to circle the sky over about 28 years, guarding each of the 28 lunar mansions in turn, it was called "Jin-seong," the Guardian Star. Matched to Earth among the Five Elements, it was called "To-seong," the Earth Star.

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