The Ringed Planet
Aaaaah! Oooooh! Saturn - the most beautiful planet ever! Aaaaaaah!
Ooops - excuse us for becoming all gooey. Here are some awesome facts about this awesome planet!
Ears on Saturn?
If you've heard of Galileo, then, naturally, you'll probably know that he is an amazing scientist. But he did make a huge error about the rings!
After proving that the moon wasn't smooth, and that the Sun had 'hot spots' in 1610, he then prepared to look at Saturn... What Galileo saw were two disks protruding from the side of the planet, which he concluded were ears! If you are starting to think that Galileo is a big dummy, then you should remember that, at the time, even the best telescope only magnified your sight about 30 times.
It wasn't until 1655 that Christiaan Huygens found out that they were actually rings!
The rings, if you were wondering are made out of ice and rocks, which are probably from comet and asteroids. Some of these chunks are as big a a house! Wooow!
After proving that the moon wasn't smooth, and that the Sun had 'hot spots' in 1610, he then prepared to look at Saturn... What Galileo saw were two disks protruding from the side of the planet, which he concluded were ears! If you are starting to think that Galileo is a big dummy, then you should remember that, at the time, even the best telescope only magnified your sight about 30 times.
It wasn't until 1655 that Christiaan Huygens found out that they were actually rings!
The rings, if you were wondering are made out of ice and rocks, which are probably from comet and asteroids. Some of these chunks are as big a a house! Wooow!
Did you know...?
Saturn could actually float on water!
Why? Read on...
Why? Read on...
Atmosphere
Saturn is made of gas - hydrogen, 94% and 6% helium - which is what makes it so light.
So that means that you, sadly, can't live on Saturn because of the gas that makes it isn't solid. Awww! But there are other reason's too. Though not quite as deadly as Jupiter, this planet has some deadly storms. In fact, the wind speed can reach up to 1118 miles per hour - which is a whopping four times greater than Jupiter's!
On the North Pole of Saturn, there is a curious hexagonal wind pattern! Yes! Hexagonal! The massive winds are more than twice the diameter of the Earth!
So that means that you, sadly, can't live on Saturn because of the gas that makes it isn't solid. Awww! But there are other reason's too. Though not quite as deadly as Jupiter, this planet has some deadly storms. In fact, the wind speed can reach up to 1118 miles per hour - which is a whopping four times greater than Jupiter's!
On the North Pole of Saturn, there is a curious hexagonal wind pattern! Yes! Hexagonal! The massive winds are more than twice the diameter of the Earth!
Flattest Planet
Yes! Saturn is the flattest planet! Is it because:
a.) It has a low density
b.) It spins fast
c.) Both of the above
a.) It has a low density
b.) It spins fast
c.) Both of the above