KOMPAS.com – Saturn is the sixth planet in the solar system which is known for its distinctive ring.
Reporting from the National Geographic page, in 1610, Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei was the first person to observe Saturn through a telescope.
He saw a pair of objects on either side of the planet, so that Galileo sketched Saturn as having three bodies.
Only later in 1659, Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens, using a more sophisticated telescope, discovered that Saturn was surrounded by thin, flat rings.
There are many interesting facts that are rarely known about Saturn, one of which is that it is the farthest planet from Earth discovered with the naked human eye.
Also read: Saturn’s rings are said to be disappearing, this is the cause and time
Summarized from various sources, here are some interesting facts about the planet Saturn:
1. One day on Saturn is only 10.7 hours Earth time
Citing the NASA website, Saturn has the second shortest day if sorted out of all the planets in the solar system.
One day on Saturn only takes 10.7 hours (the time it takes Saturn to rotate or rotate once).
Meanwhile, the time needed to make a full orbit around the Sun (one year in Saturn’s time) is around 29.4 Earth years.
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2. Has 146 months
As of June 8, 2023, Saturn has 146 moons or satellites in orbit, and the remaining moons are still awaiting confirmation of their discovery and official naming from the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
Saturn’s largest satellite is Titan, which is slightly larger than the planet Mercury.
Titan is also the second largest moon in the solar system. Ganymede, Jupiter’s moon, is the largest.
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3. Saturn has only been visited 4 times
Reporting from the Universe Today page, so far only 4 spacecraft sent from Earth have visited Saturn, and three of them only made short flybys.
The first was Pioneer 11 in 1979. Then Voyager 1 in 1980 and Voyager 2 in 1981.
It wasn’t until Cassini in 2004 that a spacecraft actually orbited Saturn and took photos of the planet and its rings and moons.
Also read: Why are the planets in the Solar System round? The following is the explanation
4. Saturn can be seen with the naked eye
Saturn appears as one of the 5 planets that can be seen with the naked eye. If Saturn is in the sky at night, you can see it.
However, to see the rings and spherical shape of the planet itself, you need to look at it using a telescope.
5. Sometimes Saturn’s rings can disappear
Saturn’s axis is tilted, just like Earth’s. Sometimes, the ring is fully open and you can see it in all its glory.
But at other times it seems as if Saturn’s rings have disappeared. This happened in 2008-2009, and will happen again in 2024-2025.
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6. The name comes from a Greek God
Quoted from The Planets page, the name of the planet Saturn is taken from the name of the Roman god of agriculture and wealth, who is also the father of Jupiter.
In Roman mythology, Saturn was the father of Jupiter who was the king of the gods.
This relationship makes sense considering that the planets Saturn and Jupiter are similar in many ways, including size and composition.
Also read: 7 Rarely Known Facts about the Planet Neptune, the Ice Giant in the Solar System
7. The planet with the lowest density in the Solar System
It is made mostly of hydrogen and has a density less than water, which technically means Saturn would float.
Saturn has a density of 0.687 grams/cubic centimeter. For comparison, water is 1 g/cm 3 and earth is 5.52.
Because Saturn is less dense than water, it would float like an apple if you could put it in a large enough pond.
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2024-03-07 14:16:00
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