Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and is the second largest in the solar system with an equatorial diameter of 119,300 kilometers (74,130 miles). Much of what is known about the planet is due to the Voyager explorations in 1980-81. Saturn is visibly flattened at the poles, due to very fast rotation of the planet around its own axis. His days are 10 hours and 39 minutes, taking 29.5 Earth years to circle the sun. The atmosphere is primarily composed of hydrogen with small amounts of helium and methane. Saturn is the only planet less dense than water (about 30 percent less). In the hypothetical case of a large ocean enough to be found, Saturn would float in it. The hazy yellow hue of Saturn's atmosphere is marked by broad atmospheric banding similar to, but more indistinct than those found on Jupiter.

The wind blows at high speeds on Saturn. Near the equator, it reaches speeds of 500 meters per second (1,100 miles per hour). The wind blows mainly in the east. Stronger winds are lying near the equator, and the speed decreases uniformly with increasing latitude. At latitudes greater than 35 degrees, winds alternate its east direction west as latitude increases.

The system of Saturn's rings makes the planet one of the most beautiful objects in the solar system. The rings are divided in a number of different parts, including shiny rings A and B and the C ring, fainter. The ring system has several slits. The most striking slot is the Cassini Division, which separates the A and B rings Giovanni Cassini discovered this division in 1675. The Encke Division [Enque], which divides the ring A, has its name thanks to Johann Encke, who discovered it in 1837. space probes have shown that the main rings are actually made up of a large number of narrow rings. The origin of the rings is obscure. It is thought that the rings may have been formed from larger moons that were shattered by impacts of comets and meteoroids. The composition of the rings is not known for sure, but the rings exhibit a significant amount of water. They may be composed of icebergs and / or snowballs from a few centimeters to a few meters in size. Much of the elaborate structure of some of the rings is due to the gravitational effects of nearby satellites. This phenomenon is demonstrated by the relationship between the F-ring and two small moons that shepherd the ring material.

The Voyagers also found in the large ring B radial formations with ray format. It is believed that such formations are composed of fine particles of the powder grain size. It was observed that the radii were formed and disappeared between different images taken by Voyager. Although electrostatic charges can create spokes by levitating dust particles above the ring, the exact cause of the formation of the spokes is not well coompreendida.

Source: astro.if.ufrgs - Calvin J. Hamilton