Apr 01, 2015
Saturn
Very much like Jupiter
• Belts and zones
• Storms last for days or months
• Wind speed at equator: 1800 km/h
Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute/G. Ugarkovic
Saturn
• Fastest winds
• Emits more radiation than received
• 25% more than Jupiter
• Helium rain
Photo: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Saturn’s Rings
• Names – A, B, C, D, F, etc.
Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
ABC
Saturn’s Rings
• Names – A, B, C, D, F, etc.
Saturn’s Rings
• Inner parts orbit more quickly than outer parts
• Made of closely-spaced ringlets (hundreds)
• Most “gaps” are fine dust particles of coated ice.
Saturn’s Rings
Composition
• Mainly water ice
• Ice-covered rocky debris
Photo: NASA/JPL
Saturn’s Rings
Particle Sizes
• In A & B rings: few centimeters to tens of meters
• Pebbles to house-sized
• Most are snowball-sized
• Outermost: smoke-sized
Photo: NASA/JPL
Saturn’s Rings
Rings do not mix.
Photo: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Saturn’s Moons
Moons affect rings
Photo: NASA/JPLJanus, Pandora, Enceladus, Mimas, Rhea
Saturn’s Moons
Mimas
Photo: NASA Planetary Photojournal
Saturn’s Moons
Mimas
Photo: Lucasfilms Limited
Saturn’s Moons
Mimas
Photo: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Saturn’s Moons
Mimas
• Gravitational pull helps keep Cassini division clear
Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Saturn’s Moons
Pan
• Orbits within the Encke Gap
• Keeps it clear
Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute?G. Ugarkovic
Saturn’s Moons
Shepherd Moons
Prometheus (inner moon)
• Causes particles to speed up
• Gain energy
• Further orbits
Photo: NASA/JPL
Saturn’s Moons
Pandora (outer moon)
• Causes particles to slow down
• Lose energy
• Fall into closer orbits
Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science
Saturn’s Moons
Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science
Saturn’s Moons
Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science
Pandora
Pandora Photo: NASA/JPL/SSI
Saturn’s Moons
Titan
Second largest moon (Also larger than Mercury)
• Made of rock and ice
• Only moon with much of an atmosphere
Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Saturn’s Moons
Titan
Composition:
• Methane (CH4) – 98%
• Nitrogen (N2) – 2%
Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Saturn’s Moons
Titan
Rains methane
• Lakes in the north
Photo: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/DLRJingpo Lacus, by Kraken Mare
Works CitedAllison, Mead A., Arthur T. DeGaetano, and Jay M. Pasachoff. Earth Science. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2007. Print.
Lutgens, Alan K., Edward J. Tarbuck, with illustrations by Dennis Tasa. Foundations of Earth Science, Sixth Edition, Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2011
Freedman, Roger A., Kaufmann III, William J. Universe, 6th Edition. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company, 2002