Saturn's moon Titan: The surface has craters and scientists say, "the apparent freshness of some may mean that volcanism has been relatively recently active". Unlike Earth, Saturn is a gas giant, which means that it is predominantly made out of hydrogen and helium, with a small, rocky inner core. At the very core of the gas/ice giant is thought to be a region of rock with roughly the mass of the Earth. Neptune is the most distant planet from the Sun. Saturn is the second-largest planet, boasting a stunning set of rings that can be seen in backyard telescopes. In the late … Saturn's ring system is the most extensive and complex in the solar system, extending hundreds of thousands of kilometers from the planet. It lacks a definite surface, though it may have a solid core.

The mission plunged it into the planet’s atmosphere in September 2017, in part to protect its moon Enceladus, which Cassini discovered might hold conditions suitable for life. Titan, one of Saturn's 82 moons and so large it outsizes the planet Mercury, has strange characteristics which have baffled astronomers.

Saturn's center is a hard rocky core. Saturn is the second largest planet in the solar system, orbiting approximately 900 million miles from the sun. The surface that is seen through telescopes and in spacecraft images is actually a complex of cloud layers decorated by many small-scale features, such as red, brown, and white spots, bands, eddies, and vortices, that vary over a fairly short time. Saturn's rotation causes it to have the shape of an oblate spheroid; that is, it is flattened at the poles and bulges at its equator.Its equatorial and polar radii differ by almost 10%: 60,268 km versus 54,364 km. A year on Neptune lasts 165 Earth years. It is the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn Observational Parameters ... 0.038 Rs Surface (1 Rs) field strength: 0.18 - 0.84 Gauss Saturn's magnetic field has significant quadrapole and octapole moments, making approximation of the central field as an offset dipole difficult. Saturn - Saturn - The atmosphere: Viewed from Earth, Saturn has an overall hazy yellow-brown appearance. The spacecraft Cassini is pictured above Saturn’s northern hemisphere prior to making one of its Grand Finale dives in this NASA handout illustration obtained by Reuters August 29, 2017. NASA’s Cassini probe crashed into the surface of the solar system’s second-largest planet, Saturn, in 2017, yet its incredible mission is still revealing new … Neptune has 6 faint rings. Cassini, the first spacecraft to orbit Saturn, will make the last of 22 farewell dives between the planet’s rings and surface on September 15. Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun, and is the second largest planet in the solar system.

By Drew Lichtenstein.

Get the latest updates on NASA missions, watch NASA TV live, and learn about our quest to reveal the unknown and benefit all humankind. Overall, Saturn is the least dense planet in the solar system. Saturn is a gas giant because it is predominantly composed of hydrogen and helium.

Saturn's rotation causes it to have the shape of an oblate spheroid; that is, it is flattened at the poles and bulges at its equator.Its equatorial and polar radii differ by almost 10%: 60,268 km versus 54,364 km. The planet … A day on Saturn is 10 hours long, but one of its years extends over 29 Earth years. Physical characteristics of Saturn. It lacks a definite surface, though it may have a solid core. Surface.

Saturn is a gas giant, composed mainly of hydrogen with trace amounts of helium, methane, water and ammonia. Saturn is the second largest planet in the solar system, orbiting approximately 900 million miles from the sun. Updated April 24, 2017. It lacks a definite surface, though it may have a solid core. Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Neptune was not known to the ancients. Saturn is a gas giant made up mostly of hydrogen and helium.. Saturn's volume is greater than 760 Earths, and it is the second most massive planet …

Deep down inside Neptune, the planet might have an actual solid surface.

The planet is not dense and, in fact, would float on water. A day on Saturn is 10 hours long, but one of its years extends over 29 Earth years. Surface Temperature: -201 °C: Discovery Date: September 23rd 1846: Discovered By: Urbain Le Verrier & Johann Galle : Facts about Neptune. Saturn's rotation causes it to have the shape of an oblate spheroid; that is, it is flattened at the poles and bulges at its equator.Its equatorial and polar radii differ by almost 10%: 60,268 km versus 54,364 km. The Rings of Saturn The Cassini mission revealed many landforms on Saturn… As a gas giant, Saturn doesn’t have a true surface. Managed by JPL, Cassini was an orbiter that observed Saturn for more than 13 years before exhausting its fuel supply. It is the only planet that is less dense than water, meaning it would actually float on a (huge) ocean of water. Saturn is a gas giant because it is predominantly composed of hydrogen and helium. Surface. What Is Saturn's Surface Composition?