Things about Saturn

 Get to know the ring planet

Introduction:

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and is the second-largest in the solar system. Recently, with many moons being discovered, it surpassed the number of Jupiter's moons and is now considered the planet with numerous satellites. Most of what we know about the planet is due to the Voyager spacecraft explorations. Saturn is visibly flattened at the poles because of the very fast axial rotation. Its day is 10 hours 39 minutes long, and it takes 29.5 earth years to revolve around the Sun; meaning it has the second shortest day in the solar system. Saturn is about 95 times the size of our Earth. 

It's not possible to give someone credit for the discovery of Saturn, however, the first telescopic observation was conducted by Galileo Galilei in 1610.  Although he saw a strangeness in the appearance of Saturn', the low resolution of his telescope did not allow him to discern Saturn's rings.

Atmosphere and magnetosphere:

Saturn is the only planet less dense than water (In a hypothetical event that a large enough ocean could be found, Saturn would float in it). It has a hazy yellow hue. The atmosphere is primarily composed of hydrogen with small amounts of helium and methane; it's also composed of ammonia, ammonia hydrosulfide, and water that influence the planet's colorful appearance of brownish-yellow. The outer atmosphere of Saturn contains 96.3% molecular hydrogen and 3.25% helium by volume. Both Saturn and Jupiter are the planets having their bulk chemical composition dominated by hydrogen. The tremendous pressure in Saturn's deep interior maintains the hydrogen in a fluid metallic state.

The wind blows at high speeds on Saturn. Near the equator, it reaches a speed of 500 meters per second (1000 miles per hour). Velocities fall off uniformly at higher latitudes. Telescopes show a rare storm that appears as a white arrowhead-shaped feature near the planet's equator. It's called the Great White Spot of Saturn and it is comprised of many periodic storms large enough to be seen from Earth by a telescope. They are several kilometers wide and encircle the planet, occurring once roughly every Saturnian year ( once in every 30 years). This storm is generated by an upwelling of warmer air, similar to a terrestrial thunderstorm. The storm's white clouds are ammonia ice crystals that form when an upward flow of warmer gases shoves its way through Saturn's frigid cloud tops. 

Saturn has an intrinsic magnetic field that has a simple, symmetric shape: a magnetic dipole. Its strength at the equator is approximately one-twentieth of that of the field around Jupiter. It is slightly weaker than Earth's magnetic field. Saturn's moon 'Titan' orbits within the outer part of the magnetosphere and contributes plasma from the ionized particles in Titan's outer atmosphere. The magnetosphere also produces aurorae.

About its rings and moons:

Saturn's ring system makes the planet one of the most beautiful things in the solar system. The origin of the rings is obscure. It is thought that the rings may have been formed from larger moons that were shattered by the impacts of comets and meteoroids. The ring composition is not known for certain, but the rings do show a significant amount of water. They might contain icebergs or snowball from a few meters. 

Much of the elaborate structure of some of the rings is due to the gravitational effect of the nearby satellites. The rings are split into a number of different parts, which include the bright A and B rings and a fainter C ring. The ring system has various gaps. The most notable gap is the Cassini Division which separates the A and B rings. 

Saturn has 82 confirmed moons, the largest number of satellites of any planet in the solar system. The orbits of these 82 moons are not embedded in its rings; many of the moons are very small. Out of the 82 moons, only 24 are regular satellites. Only 7 of the moons are large enough to have collapsed into a relaxed, ellipse shape. However, Titan and possible Rhea, are currently in hydrostatic equilibrium. Saturn's moon Titan is distinguished from all other moons in the solar system by the presence of a significant atmosphere, one that is denser than that of any of the terrestrial planets except Venus. The remaining regular moons orbit near the outer edge of ring A. They have orbits much farther from Saturn along with high inclinations. There are these irregular satellites that have been classified by their orbital characteristics into the Inuit, Norse, and Gallic groups. The largest known irregular moon is Pheobe, the ninth moon of Saturn, discovered at the end of the 19th century. 

Titan is the first discovered moon of Saturn. It was discovered in 1655 by astronomer Christian Huygens. It is bigger in size than the planet Mercury but only 40% more massive. It is almost as wide as Canada. Titan is the only moon in the Solar system with clouds and a dense atmosphere with clear evidence of stable bodies of surface liquid. The moon is primarily made up of ice and rocky terrain, with a rocky core in the center surrounded by various layers of ice, and a sub-surface layer of ammonia-rich liquid water. The atmosphere is largely made up of nitrogen, methane, and ethane clouds with nitrogen-rich organic smog. Climate features include wind and rain that create features similar to those of Earth, such as dunes, rivers, lakes, seas, and deltas. Titan receives about 1% as much sunlight as Earth. Atmospheric methane creates a greenhouse effect on Titan's surface, without which Titan would be far colder.

Hyperion is an irregularly shaped moon and has a sponge-like appearance making it a very unique object. Together with Pluto's moons Nix and Hydra, they are among the few moons in the Solar system that rotate chaotically. Enceladus is the sixth-largest moon of Saturn; this moon is mostly covered by fresh ice, making it one of the most reflective bodies of the Solar system. Tethys is the third-largest inner moon of Saturn and a small fraction of rock. Some amount of unidentified dark material is present on the moon Tethys. 

Dione is the second-largest inner moon of Saturn. It has a higher density than the geologically dead Rhea, the largest inner moon, but lower than that of active Enceladus. About two-thirds of Dione's mass is water ice, and the remaining is a dense core, probably silicate rock.