Saturn

Very much like Jupiter

• Belts and zones

• Storms last for days or months

• Wind speed at equator: 1800 km/h

Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute/G. Ugarkovic

Saturn

• Fastest winds

• Emits more radiation than received

• 25% more than Jupiter

• Helium rain

Photo: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Saturn’s Rings

• Names – A, B, C, D, F, etc.

Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

ABC

Saturn’s Rings

• Names – A, B, C, D, F, etc.

Saturn’s Rings

• Inner parts orbit more quickly than outer parts

• Made of closely-spaced ringlets (hundreds)

• Most “gaps” are fine dust particles of coated ice.

Saturn’s Rings

Composition

• Mainly water ice

• Ice-covered rocky debris

Photo: NASA/JPL

Saturn’s Rings

Particle Sizes

• In A & B rings: few centimeters to tens of meters

• Pebbles to house-sized

• Most are snowball-sized

• Outermost: smoke-sized

Photo: NASA/JPL

Saturn’s Rings

Rings do not mix.

Photo: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Saturn’s Moons

Moons affect rings

Photo: NASA/JPLJanus, Pandora, Enceladus, Mimas, Rhea

Saturn’s Moons

Mimas

Photo: NASA Planetary Photojournal

Saturn’s Moons

Mimas

Photo: Lucasfilms Limited

Saturn’s Moons

Mimas

Photo: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Saturn’s Moons

Mimas

• Gravitational pull helps keep Cassini division clear

Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Saturn’s Moons

Pan

• Orbits within the Encke Gap

• Keeps it clear

Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute?G. Ugarkovic

Saturn’s Moons

Shepherd Moons

Prometheus (inner moon)

• Causes particles to speed up

• Gain energy

• Further orbits

Photo: NASA/JPL

Saturn’s Moons

Pandora (outer moon)

• Causes particles to slow down

• Lose energy

• Fall into closer orbits

Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science

Saturn’s Moons

Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science

Saturn’s Moons

Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science

Pandora

Pandora Photo: NASA/JPL/SSI

Saturn’s Moons

Titan

Second largest moon (Also larger than Mercury)

• Made of rock and ice

• Only moon with much of an atmosphere

Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Saturn’s Moons

Titan

Composition:

• Methane (CH4) – 98%

• Nitrogen (N2) – 2%

Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Saturn’s Moons

Titan

Rains methane

• Lakes in the north

Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/DLRJingpo Lacus, by Kraken Mare

Works CitedAllison, Mead A., Arthur T. DeGaetano, and Jay M. Pasachoff. Earth Science. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2007. Print.

Lutgens, Alan K., Edward J. Tarbuck, with illustrations by Dennis Tasa. Foundations of Earth Science, Sixth Edition, Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2011

Freedman, Roger A., Kaufmann III, William J. Universe, 6th Edition. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company, 2002