Saturn

53 quotes found

"Adorned with thousands of beautiful ringlets, Saturn is unique among the planets. All four gas giant planets have rings -- made of chunks of ice and rock -- but none are as spectacular or as complicated as Saturn's. Like the other gas giants, Saturn is mostly a massive ball of hydrogen and helium. Ten important facts related to Saturn are: If the sun were as tall as a typical front door, the Earth would be the size of a nickel and Saturn would be about as big as a basketball; Saturn orbits our sun, a star. Saturn is the sixth planet from the sun at a distance of about 1.4 billion km (886 million miles) or 9.5 AU; One day on Saturn takes 10.7 hours (the time it takes for Saturn to rotate or spin once); Saturn makes a complete orbit around the sun (a year in Saturnian time) in 29 Earth years; Saturn is a gas-giant planet and does not have a solid surface; Saturn's atmosphere is made up mostly of hydrogen (H2) and helium (He); Saturn has 53 known moons with an additional 9 moons awaiting confirmation of their discovery; Saturn has the most spectacular ring system of all our solar system's planets. It is made up of seven rings with several gaps and divisions between them; Five missions have been sent to Saturn; Since 2004, Cassini|Cassini has been exploring Saturn, its moons and rings; Saturn cannot support life as we know it. However, some of Saturn's moons have conditions that might support life; When Galileo Galilei looked at Saturn through a telescope in the 1600s, he noticed strange objects on each side of the planet and drew in his notes a triple-bodied planet system and then later a planet with arms or handles. The handles turned out to be the rings of Saturn."

- Saturn

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"Discovered by the ancients, Saturn has an orbit size around the sun of 1,426,666,422 km (886,489,415 miles); is 9.537 times the size of the earth; its perihelion (closest) is : 1,349,823,615 km (838,741,509 miles) is 9.176x Earth; Aphelion (farthest) is 1,503,509,229 km (934,237,322 miles), 9.885 x Earth; Sidereal Orbit Period (Length of Year) is 29.447498 Earth years (10,755.70 Earth days), 29.447 x Earth; Orbit Circumference is 8,957,504,604 km (5,565,935,315 miles), 9.530 x Earth; its Average Orbit Velocity is 34,701 km/h (21,562 mph, is 0.324 times of earth’s orbit velocity; orbit eccentricity is 0.05386179 which is 3.223 x Earth; its Orbit Inclination is 2.49 degrees; Equatorial Inclination to Orbit is 26.7 degrees; it has a mean radius of 58,232 km (36,183.7 miles), 9.1402 x Earth; has an Equatorial Circumference of 365,882.4 km (227,348.8 miles), 9.1402 x Earth; its volume is 8.2713 x 1014 km3, 763.594 x Earth; it has a Mass of, 95.161 x Earth; its Density is 0.687 g/cm3, 0.125 x Earth; its surface area measures 4.2612 x 1010 km2 which is 83.543 x Earth; it has a Surface Gravity 10.4* m/s2 (34.3 ft/s2 )_( 100 pounds on Earth, you would weigh about 107 pounds on Saturn); has an Escape Velocity Of 129,924 km/h (80,731 mph), Escape velocity of Earth is 25,030 mph; Sidereal Rotation Period (Length of Day) is 0.444 Earth days (10.656 hours}, 0.445 x Earth; its Effective Temperature is 178 °C (288 °F) and scientific notation is 95 K; its Atmospheric Constituents are Hydrogen (H2), Helium (He) while Earth's atmosphere consists mostly of N2 and O2."

- Saturn

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"The universe is globe-shaped, either because that is the most perfect shape of all, needing no joint, an integral whole; or because that is the most capacious of shapes, which is most fitting because it is to contain and preserve all...The first and highest of all is the sphere of the fixed stars, which contains itself and all things, and is therefore motionless. It is the location of the universe, to which the motion and position of all the remaining stars is referred. For though some consider that it also changes in some respect, we shall assign another cause for its appearing to do so in our deduction of the Earth's motion. There follows Saturn, the first of the wandering stars, which completes its circuit in thirty years. After it comes Jupiter which moves in a twelve-year long revolution. Next is Mars, which goes round biennially. An annual revolution holds the fourth place, in which as we have said is contained the Earth along with the lunar sphere which is like an epicycle. In fifth place Venus returns every nine months. Lastly, Mercury holds the sixth place, making a circuit in the space of eighty days. In the middle of all is the seat of the Sun. For who in this most beautiful of temples would put this lamp in any other or better place than the one from which it can illuminate everything at the same time? Aptly indeed is he named by some the lantern of the universe, by others the mind, by others the ruler. Trismegistus called him the visible God, Sophocles' Electra, the watcher over all things. Thus indeed the Sun as if seated on a royal throne governs his household of Stars as they circle around him. Earth also is by no means cheated of the Moon's attendance, but as Aristotle says in his book On Animals the Moon has the closest affinity with the Earth. Meanwhile the Earth conceives from the Sun, and is made pregnant with annual offspring. We find, then, in this arrangement the marvellous symmetry of the universe, and a sure linking together in harmony of the motion and size of the spheres, such as could be perceived in no other way. For here one may understand, by attentive observation, why Jupiter appears to have a larger progression and retrogression than Saturn, and smaller than Mars, and again why Venus has larger ones than Mercury; why such a doubling back appears more frequently in Saturn than in Jupiter, and still more rarely in Mars and Venus than in Mercury; and furthermore why Saturn, Jupiter and Mars are nearer to the Earth when in opposition than in the region of their occultation by the Sun and re-appearance. Indeed Mars in particular at the time when it is visible throughout the night seems to equal Jupiter in size, though marked out by its reddish colour; yet it is scarcely distinguishable among stars of the second magnitude, though recognized by those who track it with careful attention."

- Saturn

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"I shall explain a System of the World differing in many particulars from any yet known, answering in all things to the common Rules of Mechanical Motions: This depends upon three Suppositions. First, That all Cœlestial Bodies whatsoever, have an attraction or gravitating power towards their own Centers, whereby they attract not only their own parts, and keep them from flying from them, as we may observe the Earth to do, but that they do also attract all the other Cœlestial bodies that are within the sphere of their activity; and consequently that not only the Sun and Moon have an influence upon the body and motion the Earth, and the Earth upon them, but that Mercury also Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter by their attractive powers, have a considerable influence upon its motion in the same manner the corresponding attractive power of the Earth hath a considerable influence upon every one of their motions also. The second supposition is this, That all bodies whatsoever that are put into a direct and simple motion, will continue to move forward in a straight line, till they are by some other effectual powers deflected and bent into a Motion, describing a Circle, Ellipse, or some other more compounded Curve Line. The third supposition is: That these attractive powers are so much the more powerful in operating, by how much the nearer the body wrought upon is to their own Centers. Now what these several degrees are I have not yet experimentally verified; but it is a notion, which if fully prosecuted as it ought to be, will mightily assist the Astronomer to reduce all the Cœlestial Motions to a certain rule, which I doubt will never be done true without it. He that understands the nature of the Circular Pendulum and Circular Motion, will easily understand the whole ground of this Principle, and will know where to find direction in Nature for the true stating thereof. This I only hint at present to such as have ability and opportunity of prosecuting this Inquiry, and are not wanting of Industry for observing and calculating, wishing heartily such may be found, having myself many other things in hand which I would first complete and therefore cannot so well attend it. But this I durst promise the Undertaker, that he will find all the Great Motions of the World to be influenced by this Principle, and that the true understanding thereof will be the true perfection of Astronomy."

- Saturn

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