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Jump to: Page 1: Intro, Atmosphere, Great White Spot, Weather, Page 2: Composition, Making Heat COMPOSITION:On the whole, Saturn is about 75% hydrogen and 25% helium, with traces of water vapor, methane, ammonia, and primordial solar nebula material. Hydrogen and helium are two of the lightest gases in the Universe. As a result, Saturn is the least dense planet in the solar system. With a density of .7 g/cc. Saturn is actually less dense than water! If Saturn were hollowed out, there would be enough space for 833 Earths inside it. However, the mass of Saturn is only around the mass of 95 Earths. If one could find an ocean big enough, Saturn would float! Scientists believe that Saturn has a solid core similar to the core of Jupiter. Made up of rock, it is believed to be surrounded by liquid metallic hydrogen and helium, followed by a layer of molecular hydrogen in liquid state. This layer of molecular hydrogen is considered the "surface" of Saturn.
Temperatures on Saturn range from 2.5 x 10^4 Kelvin in the interior to 85 Kelvin in the tropopause of the atmosphere. Saturn is one of the few planets in the solar system that actually releases more heat than it receives from the sun. It releases about twice as much as it gets. Scientists believe the heat is the result of two possibilities. The first possibility is the "raining" of helium or differentiation (ah! Sounds like calculus!). The distribution of hydrogen and helium usually remain constant. However, when the temperature is less than 10^4 Kelvin, helium becomes insoluble (solid). Helium "raindrops" form and fall down to the surface of Saturn. But as they drop through the atmosphere, the temperature rises causing the "raindrops" to dissolve. Dissolving gives off heat. The second possibility is gradual gravitational compression, like the Kelvin-Helmholtz mechanism on Jupiter. |
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