Saturn Fun Facts
AstronomyName:Period:
Galileo
thin
telescope
gravity
car
planet
large
rotation
moons
Sun
gas giant
pounds
hydrogen
sixth
diameter
Saturn is the ______planet from the Sun in our Solar System. It is the second-largest ______in our Solar System (Jupiter is the largest) and is made mostly of ______and helium gas (it is a ______planet). Saturn has beautiful rings. Although Saturn is visible without using a ______, a low-power telescope is needed to see its rings. The rings were first observed by ______in the 17th century. Saturn's bright rings are made of ice chunks (and some rocks) that range in size from the size of a fingernail to the size of a ______. Although the rings are extremely wide (almost 185,000 miles = 300,000 km in diameter), they are very ______(about 0.6 miles = 1 km thick).
Saturn is about 74,898 miles = 120,536 km in diameter (at the equator at the cloud tops). This is about 9.4 times the ______of the Earth. 764 Earths could fit inside a hollowed-out Saturn.
Saturn's mass is about 5.69 x 1026 kg. Although this is 95 times the mass of the Earth, the ______on Saturn is only 1.08 times the gravity on Earth. This is because Saturn is such a ______planet (and the gravitational force a planet exerts upon an object at the planet's surface is proportional to its mass and to the inverse of its radius squared). A 100 pound person would only weigh 108 ______on Saturn. Saturn is the only planet in our Solar System that is less dense than water. Saturn would float if there were a body of water large enough!
Each day on Saturn takes 10.2 Earth hours. A year on Saturn takes 29.46 Earth years; it takes 29.46 Earth years for Saturn to orbit the ______once.
Saturn is the most oblate (flattened) planet in our Solar System. It has a equatorial diameter of 74,898 miles = 120,536 km (at the cloud tops) and a polar diameter of 67,560 miles =108,728 km. This is a difference of about 10%. Saturn's flattened shape is probably caused by its fast ______and its gaseous composition. Saturn has many ______. This planet was named for the Roman god of agriculture.
1. Saturn is notable for its rings What are they made of?______
2. Are Saturn's rings visible from Earth without using a telescope? ______
3. Is Saturn the largest planet in our Solar System? ______
4. What is the major component of Saturn's atmosphere? ______
5. Saturn is the most oblate planet in our Solar System Does this mean that it is shaped like a pear or a flattened sphere? ______
6. How many named moons does Saturn have? ______
7. How thick are Saturn's rings?______
8. Who discovered Saturn's rings in 1610 using a 20-power telescope? ______
9. What is the name of the major division in Saturn's rings? ______
10. Titan is the biggest moon of Saturn and the second-largest moon in the solar system. What is the largest moon in the Solar System and what planet does it orbit? ______which orbits ______