SATURN IS .THE SIXTH PLANET from the Sun.It is a gas giant as big as Jupiter, with an equatorial diameter of about 120,500 kilometers.Saturn is thought to consist of a small core of rock and ice surrounded by an inner mantle of metallic hydrogen (liquid hydrogen that act like a metal )outside the inner mantle is an outer mantle of liquid hydrogen that merges intormo a gaseous atmosphere..Saturn's clouds form belts and zones similar to those on Jupiter..but obscured by overlying haze .St and eddies seen as red or white ovals occur in the clouds .Saturn has an extremely thin but wide system of rings that is less than one kilometre thick but extends outwards to about 420.000 km from the planet's surface .The main rings comprises thousands of narrow ringlets , each made of icy lumps that range in size from tiny particles to chunks several meters across .The D.Eand G rings are very faint ,the F ring is brighter and the A,B,C rings are brighter enough to be seen from the Earth. with binoculars .Saturn has 18 known moons , some of which orbits inside the rings and are thought to exert a gravitational influence on the shape of the rings.Unusually ,seven of the moons are co-orbital- they share an orbit with another moon.
Astronomers believe that such co-orbital moons may have originated from a single satellite that broke up.
Astronomers believe that such co-orbital moons may have originated from a single satellite that broke up.
Comments
Post a Comment