SATURN, ITS RINGS, AND MANY MOONS

INTRODUCTION:Saturn in the 6th planet from the sun. It is a beautiful sight with its different layers of Rings. Saturn is the planet with the most visible rings and is often referred to as The Ringed Planet. Saturn also has multiple moons orbiting it. Throughout this slide show these will be looked at and shown.

SaturnSaturn was discovered by Galileo Galilei with his telescope in 1610. He

inadvertently became the first person to be able to observe Saturn.

The Rings of Saturn

The rings of Saturn are named in Alphabetical Order in the order that they were discovered. The main rings of Saturn working outward are known as C,B, and A. The rings are fairly close together accept for Cassini Division. The Cassini Division separates rings B and A.

The F ring was later discovered on the outside of Ring A and beyond that are rings G and E. Ring D is the closest to the planet The total mass of the rings is that of the moon about 500kms across.

The rings of Saturn are mostly made up of dust and ice particles that range from small particles particles that are as large as a mountain.

The meteors that circle Saturn can be considered there own individual moon. It has been said that Saturn is the planet with a billion moons. This picture helps to see the asteroids as giant ice particles in the solar system

Saturn’s Satellites AKA the main moons surrounding Saturn

Saturn has 62 known moons and hundreds of so-called moonlets within the rings. The largest of all the moons as of now is Titan. This moon is the second largest moon in the solar system. Titan is larger than the planet Mercury

Titan

Titan is the sixth moon in distance from Saturn. It is the second largest moon in the solar system.

In 1655 Titan was first discovered by the Dutch Astronomer Christian Huygens

In 1921 an observation of a an eclipse of Rhea by Titan was seen by L. Comrie and A. Levin.

The mountains are made of ice. The plains are dunes with lakes of black liquids of gas.

The lakes of Titan are mostly methane gas and liquid. Even when it rains the rain is methane.

When Titan came closer to Saturn. The side of Saturn that was facing Titan bulged.

If Titan was to orbit around the sun it would be classified as a planet. Instead Titan orbits Saturn which makes it a moon.

Titan and RheaRHEA IS PITTED WITH CRATERED AND TITAN IS SURFACE IS UNBEARABLY COLD. WHERE THE TEMPERATURE GOES TO -290 C

Rhea

Rhea is Saturn’s Second largest moonIt is divided by two parts: The first part is heavily cratered. The second section is less cratered and are in the parts that are polar and equatorial.

Rhea is small, cold, and airless. The temperature on this moon ranges from -174 Celsius in the sun and down -220 Celsius.

The plains on Rhea are estimated to be around 4 billion years old.

It is similar to its sister moons Dione and Tethys and always has one side facing Saturn and heavily cratered.

Dione TethysDIONE IS HEAVILY CRATERED LIKE ITS SISTER MOONS RHEA AND TETHYS. THE TEMPERATURE AVERAGE IS -186 C. THE ICE ON THE MOON BEHAVES LIKE ROCK.

TETHYS IS HEAVILY SCARED LIKE ITS SISTER MOONS DIONE AND RHEA. THE CRATERS ON THIS MOON ARE BRIGHT SUGGESTING LARGE AMOUNT OF WATER ICE. THE TEMPERATURE ON TETHYS AVERAGE -187 C

Conclusion Saturn has many wonderful aspects of it.

The beautiful rings that surround it. The rings are made of asteroids and meteors which can be considered to be many different moons. Saturn has the most visible rings than all the other planets.

Works Cited "Dione: Overview." Solar System

Exploration. N.p., 12 2010. Web. 27 Nov 2012. <Solarsystem.nasa.gov>.

"Us scientist find ring of truth in new Saturn theory." . Herald Sun, 13 2010. Web. 9 Dec 2012. <heraldsun.com>.

Spotts, Pete. "Life on Saturn moon? Discovery of hidden ocean on Titan tantalizes." . Ebsco, 28 2012. Web. 18 Nov 2012. <Web.ebscohost.com.dbprox.slcc.edu>.