Saturn
Saturn is very much like Jupiter. It is also a ball of gas which generates its own storms etc. Pressure here is also immense and Saturn also has a magnetic field, formed with the same theory as Jupiter. The main difference is that the rings of Saturn are far more visible than that of Jupiter. The main reason is that it is made up of bright ice particles. Both the rings of Jupiter and Saturn may seem to disappear sometimes as they are actually very thin on the side. The concept is very much like that of a piece of paper being looked at edge-on. However, the density of Saturn is so little that it can literally float on water!
Geography:
- A Jovian planet like Jupiter
- It is a gas ball which generates its own energy
- It has immense pressure
- Saturn has a magnetic field generated by its liquid metallic hydrogen (cooled and compressed hydrogen to the extent that it behaves like a liquid metal) core.
- Saturn has no surface geographical features, because it does not have one.
- Saturn has frequent storms and high velocity winds too
Anatomy:
- It has a thick atmosphere
- It has a hydrogen core
- Saturn has neither mantle nor crust. The gases just get denser as the altitude lowers.
- Saturn has brighter rings than Jupiter, because the rings are made up of materials with higher reflectivity. All the Jovian planets’ rings are flat in plane. The rings are made up of water, rock and ice
- The rings are separated by 7 divisions. The exact number is not known
- Saturn has a rocky core with a liquid metallic hydrogen layer and a molecular hydrogen layer.
Chemical composition:
- Saturn is the least dense of all planets
- Saturn is 75% hydrogen, 25% helium with water, methane, ammonia and rock
- Saturn’s core is 12000k.
- It generates its own energy through the Kelvin-Helmholtz mechanism, just like Jupiter.
- It also has distinct layers of clouds of ammonia ice, ammonium hydrosulfide and a mixture of ice and water.
Shape:
- An oval. The Jovian planets, due to them being mostly made up of gas and liquefied gas, usually have a flat appearance due to them rotating at a high speed
Climate:
- Rare storms occur on Saturn’s equator, where warm air rises and cools rapidly at high altitudes.
- Saturn is cold as it is shrouded by its thick atmosphere
- Like Jupiter, it radiates a high amount of energy from the sun. This is due to its hot interior (pressure from overlying gas layers) despite its cool exterior
- Saturn’s own energy also comes from the continual migration of heavier liquid helium through the liquid hydrogen mantle toward the core, which generates energy
- Saturn’s cloud layer temperature is at –135 degrees Celsius.
Moons: 30 (known in total)
Titan is the second largest moon in the solar system behind Ganymede. Titan is one of the five moons which has an atmosphere, apart from Io, Europa, Triton and Ganymede. Titan’s atmosphere is opaque. Titan is composed of water ice and rocky material and it has a strong gravity. Titan’s atmosphere consists of mostly nitrogen and a small amount of methane and argon. Titan does not have any magnetic field to shield it from solar storms. Ethane clouds fall as rain here and form ethane pools. The temperature of Titan is around –300F. |
