Saturn
The Jewel of the Solar System
Saturn is instantly recognizable by its stunning ring system, composed of billions of chunks of ice and rock ranging from dust-sized to house-sized. The rings span 282,000 km wide but are only about 10 meters thick. Saturn is the least dense planet — it would actually float in water if you could find a bathtub big enough. Its moon Titan has a thick atmosphere and liquid methane lakes.
Mass
5.68 × 10²⁶
kg
Diameter
116,460
km
Gravity
10.44
m/s²
Temperature
-140
°C cloud top
Day Length
10.7
hours
Year Length
29.45
Earth years
Distance from Sun
1,434
M km
Atmosphere
96% H₂, 3% He — wind speeds up to 1,800 km/h
Moons(2)
Titan
The only moon with a thick atmosphere and the only body besides Earth with stable surface liquids — lakes of liquid methane and ethane.
Enceladus
Shoots enormous geysers of water ice into space from its south pole, feeding Saturn's E ring. Has hydrothermal vents on its ocean floor — conditions for life.