Untitled Document
 Saturn
is an amazing planet that is nothing like
the Earth. It is sometimes called “The Jewel of the Solar System.” This week,
let’s learn some interesting facts about the beautiful
planet.
■ Saturn is the second largest planet in our Solar System. It is really
huge! Only Jupiter is bigger than Saturn.
More than nine Earths would fit across Saturn if you
could line them up.
■ The planet is named after Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture. The day “Saturday” is also named after
him.
■ Saturn goes around the Sun very slowly. However, it spins on its axis very fast. A Saturn year lasts for more than 29 Earth
years. But a Saturn day only lasts 10 hours and 14 minutes.
■ It’s pretty windy on Saturn. Winds around
the planet’s equator can reach 1,800 kilometers per
hour. In comparison, the fastest
winds on Earth “only” reach about 400 kilometers per hour.
■ Unlike Earth, Saturn is made
mostly of hydrogen and helium. While it has heavier materials in the core, Saturn has no surface on which you could
stand.
■ Saturn is the only planet in our Solar System that is less dense than water. This means that if you could build a really really large
bathtub, Saturn would float in it!
 ■ Saturn’s
density is only 0.13 that
of the Earth. That’s because the Earth is made of rocks and stuff, while Saturn is pretty
much just gas.
■ Other planets also have rings, but Saturn’s rings
are the only ones that are visible from the Earth even
with a small telescope.
■ Saturn’s beautiful rings are made up of particles of ice, dust and rock. Some of these
particles are as tiny as grains of sand. And
some are much larger than skyscrapers! In fact, some are up to a
kilometer across!
■ Saturn’s main rings could cover almost the entire distance between the Earth and the
moon. Yet, they are less than a kilometer thick.
■ Saturn is so far away from the Sun that
it receives only about 1/80th
the amount of sunlight that we get here
on Earth. So, the Sun appears much smaller from
there. |
|
|
|
