Saturn 2/5/2005

: Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun (opens in a new tab) and the second largest planet in the Solar System (opens in a new tab), after Jupiter (opens in a new tab). Named after the Roman (opens in a new tab) god Saturn (opens in a new tab), its astronomical symbol (opens in a new tab) (♄) represents the god’s sickle (opens in a new tab). Saturn is a gas giant (opens in a new tab) with an average radius about nine times that of Earth (opens in a new tab).While only 1/8 the average density of Earth, with its larger volume Saturn is just over 95 times more massive than Earth.

Saturn has a ring system (opens in a new tab) that consists of nine continuous main rings and three discontinuous arcs, composed mostly of ice particles with a smaller amount of rocky debris and dust (opens in a new tab). Sixty-two[19] (opens in a new tab) known moons (opens in a new tab) orbit the planet; fifty-three are officially named. This does not include the hundreds of "moonlets (opens in a new tab)" within the rings. Titan (opens in a new tab), Saturn’s largest and the Solar System’s second largest moon, is larger than the planet Mercury (opens in a new tab) and is the only moon in the Solar System to retain a substantial atmosphere.

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