Pictures of the Planet Saturn
- Lessons in Astronomy -

Basic Information About the Planet Saturn

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun. It takes 29.42 years for this planet to complete its orbit around the Sun. However, it turns on its axis every 10 hours and 39 minutes - rotating more than twice as fast as the Earth. Saturn's mean distance from the Sun is about 886 million miles. Although Saturn's volume is 755 times more than the Earth's, it is the lowest density planet in the solar system. Its atmosphere is made up of 97% hydrogen
and 3% helium. This planet's equatorial diameter is 74,898 miles, but its ring system - consisting mostly of ice - is about 168,000 miles in diameter. Saturn has 30 known satellites - listed here in increasing distance from Saturn: Pan, Atlas, Prometheus, Pandora, Epimetheus, Janus, Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Telesto, Calypso, Dione, Helene, Rhea, Titan, Hyperion, Iapetus, S/2000 S5, S2000 S6, Phoebe, S/2000 S2, S/2000 S8, S/2000 S3, S/2000 S10, S/2000 S11, S/2000 S4, S/2000 S9, S/2000 S12, S/2000 S7, S/2000 S1. The satellites named with numbers are the most recent discoveries.


Picture of Saturn by Hubble Space Telescope



	Saturn - October, 1998

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Pictures of Saturn, Tethys, and Titan by Voyager 2


	Saturn and 4 Icy Moons, Enhanced Color

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	Saturn's Satellite Tethys

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	Brighter Southern Hemisphere of Titan (largest of Saturn's known satellites)

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	All images are courtesy NASA/JPL

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