Saturn - Second Largest Planet

Description:

Saturn was the only known ringed planet until 1977 when faint rings were detected around Uranus. Saturn is probably best known for its spectacular rings, but Saturn has many other unique features. Saturn is actually not a spherical planet. Most of the gas planets, in fact, flatten slightly and become oblate due to their rapid rotation. This characteristic is most pronounced on Saturn, where the equatorial diameter can be as much as 10% longer than its polar diameter. This variability in Saturn's diameter is due to its gassy composition of 75% hydrogen, 25% helium with traces of water, methane, ammonia, and rock. Saturn has a small rocky core, then a layer of liquid metallic hydrogen and a layer of molecular hydrogen.

Like Jupiter and the other gas planets, Saturn has a banded appearance in its coloration due to high winds in the atmosphere. The bands are not as distinct as those on Jupiter, however, they are very wide at the equator and easy to detect. Another similarity to Jupiter is the storms that are visible on Saturn's surface in the form of white or red ovals. However, none of these storms seem to be as long-lived as the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. The two datasets for Saturn are the same with slightly different coloring.

Notable Features:

• Banded appearance due to fast moving winds
• Wide bands at the equator
• Storms that appear as ovals in the bands

Data Category

Major: Astronomy

Keywords:

Astronomy, solar system, planet, gas planet

Data Set Name	Saturn
Data Set Directory Name	saturn/original
Data Set Source	Bjorn Jonsson
Data Set Developer	Bjorn Jonsson
Visualization Developer	Steve Albers, NOAA/GSD
Audio	No
Contact	Steve Albers
Download	FTP

Data Set Name	Saturn without Rings
Data Set Directory Name	saturn/color_enhanced
Data Set Source	NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Data Set Developer	NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Visualization Developer	NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Audio	No
Contact	NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Download	FTP