Rincon, Paul (10 November 2006). "Huge 'hurricane' rages on Saturn". BBC. Archived from the original on 2 September 2011 . Retrieved 12 July 2007. The CD will become Saturn's rings. Usually one side of the CD has printing on it. This is the side you will decorate with glitter. Saturn occupies almost 60 percent of Jupiter’s volume but has only about one-third of its mass and the lowest mean density—about 70 percent that of water—of any known object in the solar system. Hypothetically, Saturn would float in an ocean large enough to hold it. Both Saturn and Jupiter resemble stars in that their bulk chemical composition is dominated by hydrogen. Also, as is the case for Jupiter, the tremendous pressure in Saturn’s deep interior maintains the hydrogen there in a fluid metallic state. Saturn’s structure and evolutionary history, however, differ significantly from those of its larger counterpart. Like the other giant, or Jovian, planets—Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune—Saturn has extensive systems of moons (natural satellites) and rings, which may provide clues to its origin and evolution as well as to those of the solar system. Saturn’s moon Titan is distinguished from all other moons in the solar system by the presence of a significant atmosphere, one that is denser than that of any of the terrestrial planets except Venus.

The Romans named the seventh day of the week Saturday, Sāturni diēs ("Saturn's Day"), for the planet Saturn. [35] Physical characteristics Cowen, Rob (7 November 1999). "Largest known planetary ring discovered". Science News. Archived from the original on 22 August 2011 . Retrieved 9 April 2010. Tiscareno, Matthew (17 July 2013). "The population of propellers in Saturn's A Ring". The Astronomical Journal. 135 (3): 1083–1091. arXiv: 0710.4547. Bibcode: 2008AJ....135.1083T. doi: 10.1088/0004-6256/135/3/1083. S2CID 28620198. Massive storm at Saturn's north pole". 3 News NZ. 30 April 2013. Archived from the original on 19 July 2014 . Retrieved 30 April 2013. A persisting hexagonal wave pattern around the north polar vortex in the atmosphere at about 78°N was first noted in the Voyager images. [69] [70] [71] The sides of the hexagon are each about 14,500km (9,000mi) long, which is longer than the diameter of the Earth. [72] The entire structure rotates with a period of 10 h 39 m 24 s (the same period as that of the planet's radio emissions) which is assumed to be equal to the period of rotation of Saturn's interior. [73] The hexagonal feature does not shift in longitude like the other clouds in the visible atmosphere. [74] The pattern's origin is a matter of much speculation. Most scientists think it is a standing wave pattern in the atmosphere. Polygonal shapes have been replicated in the laboratory through differential rotation of fluids. [75] [76]Gregersen, Erik, ed. (2010). Outer Solar System: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and the Dwarf Planets. The Rosen Publishing Group. p.119. ISBN 978-1615300143. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020 . Retrieved 17 February 2018. Jones, G. H.; etal. (7 March 2008). "The Dust Halo of Saturn's Largest Icy Moon, Rhea" (PDF). Science. 319 (5868): 1380–1384. Bibcode: 2008Sci...319.1380J. doi: 10.1126/science.1151524. PMID 18323452. S2CID 206509814. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 March 2018. By studying how Saturn formed and how it evolved over time, we can learn a lot about the formation of other planets similar to Saturn within our own solar system, as well as beyond it,” said co-author and Johns Hopkins planetary physicist Sabine Stanley.

Pili, Unofre (9 September 2009). "Enceladus: Saturn′s Moon, Has Liquid Ocean of Water". Scienceray. Archived from the original on 7 October 2011 . Retrieved 21 July 2011. The continued exploration of Saturn is still considered to be a viable option for NASA as part of their ongoing New Frontiers program of missions. NASA previously requested for plans to be put forward for a mission to Saturn that included the Saturn Atmospheric Entry Probe, and possible investigations into the habitability and possible discovery of life on Saturn's moons Titan and Enceladus by Dragonfly. [174] [175] Observation Amateur telescopic view of SaturnThe models, published in AGU Advances, also indicate that Saturn’s interior may feature higher temperatures at the equatorial region, with lower temperatures at the high latitudes at the top of the helium rain layer. Faure, Gunter; Mensing, Teresa M. (2007). Introduction to planetary science: the geological perspective. Springer. p.337. ISBN 978-1-4020-5233-0. Archived from the original on 16 February 2017 . Retrieved 9 February 2016. Saturn has 146 known moons, 63 of which have formal names. [12] [11] It is estimated that there are other 100 ±30 outer irregular moons larger than 3km (2mi) in diameter. [98]