> Planet Saturn

Description of the planet Saturn for children: interesting facts with photos and pictures, the size of the gas giant, what it is made of, myths about satellites and a beautiful system of rings.

Maybe, for the little ones It is not known that Saturn is sixth in number from the Sun and receives second place in size among the planets of the solar system. It got its name from Kron (a god in Roman traditions) - the ruler of all the titans in Greek myths. Moreover, Saturn is the root English word"Saturday". It is important to recall that in the myth Saturn (Cronus) is remembered for devouring all children. Only Zeus managed to escape.

Begin explanation for children parents or teachers At school They can because Saturn is the most distant planet from Earth that can be seen without the use of special equipment. Although it is best not to neglect the telescope to admire the rings. Although other gas giants have rings (Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune), Saturn undoubtedly stands out.

We invite you to plunge into detailed description Saturn with a full description, photos, pictures and interesting facts about the planet solar system. You will learn more about the large gas giant, its moons and its beautiful ring system (the largest in our system). To make the story as clear as possible, use all the materials on the site, along with the map of Saturn, and also read more about the ancient Greek myth (you will notice that all the names of the planets are connected by the names of the gods and their kinship).

Physical characteristics of Saturn - explanation for children

Saturn is an amazing planet in the solar system that deserves your special attention. To explain to the children Some features of the planet, it should be noted that before us is a gas giant filled mainly with hydrogen and helium. Its dimensions allow it to accommodate 760 Earth-type planets, and its mass is 95 times greater than that of Earth. But it has the lowest density and is the only one that is inferior to water in this matter. If there was a giant bathtub, Saturn would not be able to drown in it.

Composition of Saturn - explanation for children

• Atmospheric composition (by volume): molecular hydrogen (96.3%), helium (3.25%) and small amounts of ammonia, methane, ethane, hydrogen deuteride, water ice aerosols, ammonia ice aerosols and ammonium hydrosulfide aerosols.
• Magnetic field: almost 578 times stronger than Earth's.
• Chemical Composition: Hot inner core (iron and rocky material) housed in an outer core (water, ammonia and methane). Next comes a layer of compressed metallic hydrogen (in liquid form), followed by liquid hydrogen and helium. The last two become gaseous closer to the surface and merge with the atmosphere.
• Internal structure: the core is 10-20 times larger than Earth's.

The orbit and rotation of Saturn - an explanation for children

• Average distance from the Sun: 1,426,725,400 km (9.53707 times greater than Earth’s).
• Perihelion (closest distance to the Sun): 1,349,467,000 km (9.177 times that of Earth).
• Aphelion (greatest distance from the Sun): 1,503,983,000 km (9.886 times greater than Earth's).

Saturn's moons - explanation for children

Saturn has 62 known moons. Most of them are renamed after the nicknames of the Titans and their subsequent representatives, as well as giants from Gallic, Inuit and Scandinavian myths.

Titan is Saturn's largest moon. In size it exceeds and occupies the second position in size in our system (the Earth's Moon is in 5th place). In first place is Ganymede.

Children should know that Titan hides under a thick and nitrogen-rich atmosphere. It may resemble what we had before life began. If in our case the atmosphere extends 60 km into space, then for Titan it is 10 times further. The atmosphere contains many hydrocarbons and chemicals that represent the earth's fossil fuels. Rains of methane drip from the sky and pass through the ice crust. Recent research has discovered propylene in the atmosphere, which is used to make plastics.

Did you know?

Although scientists have found many moons, they are constantly being created and destroyed by other small moons in this chaotic system.

These satellites can be quite strange. Pan and Atlas look like flying saucers, while Iapetus looks like a zebra: one side is snow-white and the other is dark. Enceladus exhibits glacial volcanism, with 101 geysers shooting water and other chemicals at the south pole. The role of shepherd companions is assigned to Prometheus and Pandora. This means that they are forced to interact with the ring material to keep the rings in their orbits.

Rings of Saturn - explanation for children

Galileo Galilei was right when he noticed this feature with his telescope in 1610. Although to him they looked more like hands. New review made by Dutch astronomer Christian Huygens using improved equipment. He noticed an oblong and flat ring.

Later, scientists found many rings, represented by billions of ice and stone particles, reaching a volume smaller than a grain of sand, but also capable of growing larger than a house. The largest of them exceeds the planetary diameter by 200 times. The rings are believed to be debris left by comets, asteroids or destroyed satellites. They can be seen spreading out into space for thousands of miles from the planet, but the main formations are typically only up to 30 feet thick. The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft discovered vertical formations in some of the rings, with protrusions extending up to 3 km.

According to tradition, the rings were named by letter of the alphabet in the order in which they were found. We can say that they are located close. But there is an exception that Cassini discovered. This is a gap of 4700 km. The main rings that function with the planet are C, B and A. Inside there is a very weak ring D. The outermost one, shown in 2009, can accommodate billions of globes.

Strange crossbars were noticed in the rings, which could form and dissipate within a couple of hours. Researchers believe that they can be filled with electrically charged particles no larger than a speck of dust. They are created by small meteors affecting the rings, or it’s all about electron rays from planetary lightning. The F-ring is also presented in a curious form - these are several thin rings, whose curvature and shining blocks are able to convince the viewer that these strands are woven into an inseparable whole. Changes in the rings of Saturn, like those of Jupiter, are caused by impacts and.

It would have taken first place in terms of massiveness if not for Jupiter. Its gravity also helped shape our system. Perhaps she managed to move (the closest planets to Saturn) further away. And together with Jupiter, it was also capable of attracting the debris necessary for the formation of our planet.

Saturn exploration and missions- explanation for children

The first spacecraft to approach Saturn was Pioneer 11 in 1979. It was located at a distance of 22,000 km and detected two outer rings, as well as the presence of a powerful magnetic field. Voyager figured out that the rings were made up of smaller rings and sent back this data, which revealed 9 moons.

Cassini, which currently orbits Saturn, is the largest interplanetary probe weighing 5650 kg. It was he who noticed the vortices on Enceladus and sent a probe to Titan, which managed to land on the surface without interference. Cassini not only managed to descend between the rings numerous times, showing off stunning views, but also completed the mission by plunging into the planet's atmosphere. The whole world watched the Grand Finale. Now scientists are processing the information received.

We hope you enjoyed the story about Saturn and the description of the planet. Children of all ages find it much easier to learn interesting facts if you use visuals. Therefore, it is worth looking for videos, photos and cartoons about Saturn on the site. It is useful to take advantage of images from the Cassini mission or online telescopes in real time that can periodically capture the planet in the sky. Let us remind you that this is not last world Uranus also lives in the solar system and between Saturn and Neptune. Explore these planets and learn more about the amazing features of our Universe.

Do you want to know more about the planets? We present to your attention 10 interesting facts about Saturn.

• 1. Saturn is considered the least dense planet in the solar system.

If you imagine a pool of water comparable in size to Saturn, then this planet would not drown in it. With a density of water of 1 g/cm?, Earth - 5.52 g/cm?, the density of Saturn is only 0.68 g/cm?.

• 2. Saturn's poles are flattened.

This is caused by the high speed of rotation of this planet around its axis.

The distance between the center of Saturn and its poles is 54,000 km, the equator is located at a distance of 60,300 km from the center of the planet. Thus, the poles are 6300 km closer to the center than the equator.

• 3. Mentioning interesting facts about Saturn, they remember that in past centuries, astronomers mistook Saturn’s rings for moons.

Pointing his telescope towards Saturn in 1610, Galileo was the first to see the rings around the planet. But he mistook the rings for the moons around Saturn.

Some time later, using a new telescope, Christan Huygens was able to determine that Saturn is surrounded by rings, not moons.

• 4. In fact, Saturn is much smaller than it seems to observers.

At the center of this planet there is a small core consisting of rocks, as well as ice. The remaining elements of Saturn are hydrogen, helium and methane.

The winds blowing on the planet reach speeds of 1800 km/h.

• 5. There are 62 moons around Saturn.

The first in the number of moons is Jupiter with its 63 satellites, the second is Saturn. Some of them are huge, for example, Titan is the second largest moon in the solar system. Most moons are small - only a couple of kilometers across.

• 6. Day and night on the planet Saturn.

Determining Saturn's actual rotation speed is no easy task. The planet does not have a solid surface; moving gas distorts the picture. To estimate the planet's rotation speed, scientists used analysis of the rotation of its magnetic field. Initial estimates were 10 hours 45 minutes, and subsequent analyzes gave an updated estimate of 10 hours 32 minutes.

• 7. A year on Saturn lasts 30 Earth years.

This planet completes its full revolution around the Sun over a significant period of 30 Earth years. Saturn's rings are not always visible. This is explained by changes in its angle of inclination and rotation of the planet.

• 8. The deep layers of Saturn's atmosphere have a pressure 3 million times higher than the pressure of the Earth's atmosphere.

Saturn belongs to the gas type of planets. Its atmosphere at a depth of 30 thousand km turns first into a liquid and then even into a solid state (it is called metallic hydrogen). Obviously, the person would be flattened into a point upon impact.

• 9. Saturn is visible from Earth with the naked eye.

When, going out on a cloudless night and turning your gaze to the sky, you see the stars, the brightest of them will be Saturn.

• 10. There are also northern lights on Saturn.

When analyzing images north pole Saturn taken with an infrared camera spaceship, scientists have discovered northern lights on them. Something similar has not been discovered on any other planet in the solar system. The hurricanes raging on Saturn are very similar to those on Earth. Huge, funnel-shaped spots are clearly visible from space - evidence of bad weather on Saturn.

Interesting video about Saturn. Saturn lord of the rings:

> > > Interesting Facts about Saturn

Planet Saturn - interesting facts about the planet of the solar system: mysterious rings, information about life on satellites, what spacecraft saw with photos.

Saturn is a fascinating astronomical object. Its gigantic ring system, as well as its rich family of satellites, amazes. But these are not the only features that may interest you. We present to your attention a selection the most interesting facts about Saturn.

The density of the planet Saturn is only 0.687 g/cm 3 . Therefore, not only is it the least dense planet in our system, but it can also float in water! Of course, you'll have to get a giant bathtub.

The axial rotation is performed at such a rapid speed that the planet turns into an oblate spheroid. Because of this, expansion is observed in the equatorial line. If the distance between the poles is 54,000 km, then the equatorial distance is 60,300 km. A similar thing happens on Earth, but in the giant it is more noticeable.

Galileo noticed Saturn with a telescopic instrument in 1610. But when looking at the rings, he did not understand what he was encountering, so he believed that there were two moons in front of him. It was not until 1655 that Christian Huygens used improved technology and spotted the narrow, flat ring as well as the moon Titan.

Yes, only 4 missions visited this planet. In 1979 there was Pioneer 11, which flew at a distance of 20,000 km. In 1980 - Voyager 1, and a year later - Voyager 2. Cassini was the only one to enter orbit in 2004.

These are large and small moons. Titan is the second largest in the system. But many of the companions are very tiny, who don’t even have names. In fact, they were only found a couple of years ago. And there is an opinion that their number is much greater.

Calculating axial rotation is extremely difficult. The point is that there is no hard surface here. Usually it is enough to catch your eye on the crater and notice how long it takes for it to return to its original point. But there's gas here! Scientists had to focus on the rotation of the magnetic field. It takes 10 hours and 14 minutes. Cassini's flyby took 10 hours and 45 minutes. The average day lasts 10 hours, 32 minutes and 35 seconds.

They may have appeared with the planet 4.54 billion years ago. Or they were formed after. Everything could have happened recently when a 300-kilometer icy moon ruptured. Material could have been pulled from an early protoplanetary disk. Scientists note that the material appears too pure, so they may be younger than 100 million years.

Interesting facts about Saturn cannot ignore the situation with the periodic disappearance of the rings. In fact, they move away for a while. The fact is that the planet rotates under an axial tilt. We can observe its 30-year orbital progression from our position. And from time to time the rings are open to us, and in some locations they disappear. This will happen again in 2024-2025.

If you want to find a planet, you can do this without using magnifying equipment. But to display the rings and satellites you will need a telescope. In a normal view it will seem like a bright star.

It is impossible to live on Saturn, because its conditions kill all living things. But there are many satellites nearby, for example, Enceladus.

The Cassini spacecraft managed to detect the presence of glacial geysers on the satellite. This means there is a process that keeps the satellite warm and allows liquid water and possible life to be present. We hope that the planet Saturn and its interesting facts have sparked your imagination and encouraged you to study the rest of the planets in the solar system.

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System (in terms of diameter and mass). And another, perhaps, the most recognizable planet in the solar system. The reason is the rings. And although other gas giants have planetary ring systems, none of them can compare in size and beauty with the rings of Saturn.

1. Ice, dust and stones...

It is unlikely that you will find a person who has not heard about the rings of Saturn. They were first observed in 1610 through a telescope by Galileo Galilei. It turns out, contrary to popular belief, Saturn's rings do not consist of huge blocks of stone, but of pieces of ice, dust and stones.

2. 62 satellites

People are accustomed to seeing only one satellite of the planet in the night sky - the Moon. Other planets have many more satellites: Jupiter has 67, Saturn has 62, Uranus has 27, Neptune has 14, and Mars has 2.

3. Helium, water, methane, ammonia

As you know, Saturn mainly consists of hydrogen (with admixtures of helium, water, methane and ammonia). Roughly speaking, if Saturn were placed in water, it would float on its surface.

4. Titan's Atmosphere

Saturn's largest moon is Titan. Titan's atmosphere is so thick and its gravity so low that humans could fly on it like birds, flapping "wings" attached to their arms.

5. From 10 to 90 meters

Saturn's rings are very thin. Although their diameter is about 250,000 km, they are less than a kilometer thick. Most of Saturn's rings are only 10 to 90 meters thick.

6. One of five

With good eyesight, 5 planets can be seen from Earth with the naked eye. These include Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

7. Ice volcano

The sixth largest satellite of Saturn is Enceladus (diameter 500 km). During the passage of the Voyager spacecraft past Saturn, a real ice volcano was discovered on the surface of Enceladus. It ejects ice vapor to a height of hundreds of kilometers.

8. Younger than dinosaurs

Scientists suggest that Saturn's rings are younger than dinosaurs. They were probably formed only 100 million years ago.

9. Life on Titan

The following fact also belongs to the category of assumptions. In 5 - 6 billion years, when the Sun becomes a red giant, Saturn's moon Titan will become warm enough for life to develop on it.

10. Surface gravity

Surface gravity on Venus, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune is approximately the same. It is 15% of the earth's.

11. Weight difference

A person who weighs 68 kg on Earth would weigh 72 kg on Saturn. We are talking about the weight not on the surface (after all, in fact, Saturn does not have it, it is a gas giant), but about the weight approximately at the level of the upper layer of clouds.

12. Giant Planet

In terms of volume, 764 Earths would fit inside Saturn. At the same time, almost 1600 Saturns would fit inside the Sun.

Saturn is a giant planet located in the solar system, which is second in size only to Jupiter. Despite this, Saturn is often called the most unique cosmic body of our system, and this is true: there is a huge amount of interesting information about this planet. scientific facts. Moreover, every fact about Saturn is interesting not only to astronomers, but also to ordinary people.

The special beauty of this giant is added by its rings, because of which it is considered one of the most beautiful planets in the solar system. Unusual appearance attracts a huge amount of attention to it, but studying such a distant celestial body is not at all easy, so discoveries and new interesting facts appear with clear frequency, surprising and delighting people more and more.

Acquaintance

This giant is one of those planets that can be observed with the naked eye from Earth, so it is impossible to say exactly when people first saw this celestial body. But this probably happened back at the dawn of humanity, when savages often spent the night in the open air and admired the bright stars. To an ordinary observer from Earth, the giant planet looks like an average star.

The first person to see this planet with his own eyes with magnification was Galileo Galilei. Of course, for this he needed a telescope, which in 1609 was considered extremely powerful. Now telescopes with such resolution only make astronomers smile, but then the observation of a huge giant was an amazing fact. At that time, it seemed to Galileo that there were strange protrusions or satellites on the surface, which raised a lot of questions in him.

A couple of years later, while conducting regular observations, the scientist was surprised to note that there were no more satellites. Only fifty years later, another researcher - Huygens, having more than powerful telescope, realized that these were not satellites at all, but rings encircling Saturn. Since then, studies have progressed in small steps, providing more and more new information.

A real breakthrough was the beginning of observations of the giant planet using the Cassini interplanetary station. This probe was launched into orbit in 2004 and remained there until 2017, providing a lot of new and interesting information, which became the basis for unique discoveries.

Name

It is not known for certain who came up with the name for Saturn, since this information was lost over the centuries. But the fact that the name came from Roman mythology is undeniable. The giant planet received the name of one of the most revered gods - the god of agriculture, who gave people the harvest and saved them from hunger and poverty.

In Roman mythology, the father of this god was Jupiter, and this is a particularly interesting fact from the point of view that the celestial body, called Jupiter by the Romans, is actually larger in size than Saturn. Moreover, both planets are classified as gas giants, since they are similar in composition. Whether such insight of the ancient Romans was a mere coincidence or a consequence of the knowledge they possessed cannot be known to the modern generation.

According to another version, the name of the giant is the same root word as the name of Saturday in English - Saturday.

Antipode

The overwhelming number of scientists call this planet the complete opposite of Earth. The fact is that it is a gas giant. Sometimes it is difficult for people to accept the fact that the surface of the planet can be gaseous, since we are accustomed to the fact that there must be solid soil under our feet. But here everything is more unusual: the main substances that make up this celestial body are helium, hydrogen, methane and water.

Since this satellite of the Sun is quite distant from the center of the system, its orbit is much larger than the Earth’s, so one year here lasts a little less than 30 Earth years.

Moreover, one season (winter, spring, summer or autumn) lasts about seven years. But its rotation speed around its axis is enormous, so the giant planet spins like a top wound up by someone’s hand. A day here lasts only 10 hours and 45 minutes.

But something here is reminiscent of natural phenomena on our planet. For example, it was established and filmed how large-scale and incredibly beautiful auroras occur in the atmosphere. Analogues of this interesting and large-scale phenomenon have not been recorded anywhere in the solar system, since the terrestrial northern lights cannot even come close to the spectacular ones described above. The brightness and strength of the auroras depends on the solar wind, which causes their appearance.

Gone With the Wind

A light breeze, hair fluttering in the wind - such a romantic picture on Saturn would be impossible to capture. The fact is that the length of the equator of this giant is four times greater than the Earth’s, and its mass is 5.2 times greater than the mass of the Earth. Considering the fact that the speed of rotation around its axis here is much higher than on Earth, one can even use simple logic to conclude that there are strong winds here.

Scientists confirmed this assumption, and research using probes helped establish the exact wind speed: it is 500 m/s. With such a hurricane, you can’t get away with just flying hair. Most likely, the person would have been thrown off the Earth, but since the gravity on the surface of Saturn is much greater than that of Earth, the person would probably have been flattened to the surface, and tormented from above by a stream of air of enormous force. In any case, in such harsh conditions there is definitely no time for romance.

Hexagon

Another interesting fact about this planet concerns the clouds: they form a hexagonal formation called the Hexagon. It is huge in size, since each side is about 13.8 thousand km. This giant cloud with an original structure has maintained its shape unchanged over the past decades, despite the fact that the Hexagon is in constant motion.

To imagine the size of this unique cloud, it is enough to know that four Earths can easily fit inside it.

Mysterious rings

The presence of rings is what makes Saturn recognizable and especially interesting to study. Although four other giants have similar structures, this is where they are most noticeable. From the Earth they appear differently depending on the viewing angle. Sometimes they appear flat, and sometimes they unfold across the width. These changes occur quite slowly, over several years.

The fact that the rings are not continuous and solid was assumed by researchers several centuries ago, but this was proven only at the end of the 19th century based on the observation of A.A. Belopolsky. These amazing rings are a collection of billions of solid particles that move in an orderly orbit. Each such particle varies in size from 1 cm to 10 m. They consist mainly of ice and a small amount of carbon. Individual particles along the outer perimeter of the rings play the role of “shepherds”, holding the rings in their orbits and preventing the displacement of other particles.

How these rings arose remains a mystery to scientists. There is an assumption that they appeared after the collapse of the satellite, which consisted of liquid, or after its collision with another celestial body. But these theories require proof.

There are four rings in total: three thicker and one thinner. The largest is approximately a kilometer thick. Despite the fact that this size is tiny by cosmic standards, these interesting structures are clearly visible through a telescope. This happens because it is the planet's rings that reflect the most light from its surface. When the opening is at its maximum, the view through the telescope is most beautiful. Bright and measured light means that it is either winter or summer on the planet.

End of the world

One day Saturn caused panic on Earth. The fact is that back in 1921, astronomers suddenly stopped observing the rings with their telescopes, which by that time were already powerful enough not to doubt what they saw. This information was published in numerous publications and gave rise to a whole storm of speculation and theories about how exactly the planet was left without rings.

Some journalists, trying to find an interesting and hot sensation in any news, were able to convince readers that fragments of these structures were flying towards the Earth, which would pass through the atmosphere and collide with the surface. Numerous “yellow” publications were full of colorful descriptions of what the end of the world would be like and how all of humanity would die out, which gave rise to panic among impressionable citizens.

But it soon turned out that the rings were in place, they just stood strictly edge-on to the Earth, and since their thickness was extremely small, the telescopes of that time were unable to capture and transmit the thin stripes indicating their orbit. After the discovery of this fact, the rumor quickly began to decline, the rumors ceased to stir the minds of ordinary people, and the end of the world was postponed for technical reasons.

Satellites

Another interesting feature of Saturn is its moons. Scientists believe that 40% of all moons that can be found in the solar system circle this gas giant. There are currently 62 of them, and all of them are also made of ice.

These satellites are divided into two broad categories: irregular and regular. Regular ones are closer to the surface of the planet and rotate in constant orbits, while irregular ones are more autonomous. The largest is Titan, which is larger in size than Mercury, and its diameter is 50% greater than the diameter of the Moon. Astronomers have proven that there is liquid on the surface of Titan, and this makes it the second celestial body, besides the Earth, in our system where the existence or emergence of simple organisms is possible.

It is believed that the irregular satellites have recently been captured by Saturn's magnetic field and are gradually attracted by it, while the regular ones, on the contrary, are moving away. But this process is very slow by human standards, and in order for one of the satellites to escape from the magnetic field, millions of Earth years must pass.

Enceladus is considered the most interesting satellite of Saturn. It is completely covered with the salty ocean, and on top it is securely packed in ice. Enceladus has two surfaces: old and young. The one that is turned towards Saturn is completely smooth and not pitted with craters from the impact of celestial bodies - it is young. The second one has traces, so it looks a little like the surface of the Moon in photographs - it’s old. This happens with most of the satellites of the giant planet: they always turn their “best” side towards the owner.

Giant buoy

The density of the giant planet is precisely known to scientists today: it is 0.687 g/cm 3 . For those new to physics, this fact means nothing, so it needs a little explanation. The fact is that the density of water is 1 g/cm 3, so the earth sinks in it, and a ball pumped with gas floats on the surface.

Saturn, relative to water, acts as such a huge gas ball. If it were possible to find a pool of suitable size, then the gas giant would not drown in it, but would float on the surface like a buoy.

This trick won’t work with the Earth, since its density is 5.52 g/m3.

Strange signals

People sent aircraft to the gas giant, most of which did not stay there for long. Only Cassini was designed to remain in orbit for a long time, so it remained there for 13 years, and during this period scientists were able to learn a huge number of unusual and interesting facts.

One of these discoveries was the fact that when artificial aircraft the satellite rings began to generate a specific radio pulse signal. Moreover, this did not happen chaotically, but with a clear frequency of once every 10 minutes. Researchers immediately noticed this and began to look for an explanation for this fact, however, they were unable to explain this phenomenon. Captivated by the search for extraterrestrial life forms, certain groups of astronomers immediately started talking about aliens who are hiding in the bowels of the planet and are trying to make contact. However, neither confirmation nor refutation of this theory has yet been found.

Only one thing can be said for sure: in the era of active progress in the field of space technology, the study of Saturn will continue, and all astronomers are confident that in the near future humanity will learn an incredible number of interesting, amazing and unexpected facts about this celestial body.