SATURN

MASS: 95 times Earth's
DIAMETER: 74,900 miles
ROTATION: 10 hours, 39 minutes
ORBIT AROUND SUN: 29.5 Earth years

Saturn, the sixth planet from the Sun, is most well known for its rings. Although Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus also have rings, Saturn's are the most extensive and brilliant. Saturn's rings stretch 169,800 across but are only 1 mile thick. The rings consist mostly of ice and rock particles. The size of the particles ranges from the size of a dust particle to some the size of a house. Although scientists don't know the origin of the rings they believe that the particles are the remnants of moons destroyed by Saturn's atmosphere. They may also include comets that may have passed too close to Saturn and were destroyed.Saturn has 7 major ring divisions but only three are visible from Earth through a good telescope. A dark band called the Cassini Division, named after the astronomer who discovered it, separates the two outside rings. The dark band isn't empty but it has less stuff, which makes it less visible. The middle ring is the brightest and just inside of it is a fuzzy ring.Saturn's rock core is surrounded by liquid metallic hydrogen above this layer is a deep zone of hydrogen gas. The shape of Saturn is distorted slightly because it spins so fast on its axis. The middle bulges out while the poles flatten out. Saturn's atmosphere consists mostly of hydrogen (97%) and helium (3%). The alternate jet streams of east - west and west - east circulation are responsible for the bands of colorful clouds that are hidden by haze and smog that make up the high atmosphere. The speeds of these jet streams can reach as much as 1,100 miles per hour. There have even been storm spots similar to Jupiter's Red Spot.Titan is the largest of Saturn's 18 moons and the only one with a significant atmosphere. It consists of a thick cloud of nitrogen.