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Saturn
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Saturn Planets of Our Solar System Saturn Cassini: Saturn Saturn's three main rings Hubble Space Telescope: Saturn and moons Saturn: Titan Saturn: surface of Titan
Learn about the Cassini-Huygens mission to Titan, the largest moon of Saturn with an atmosphere of its own
moons of Saturn: Mimas
For Students
Saturn
Saturn summary
Quizzes
View of the Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31, M31).
Astronomy and Space Quiz
The orbits of the planets and other elements of the solar system, including asteroids, Kuiper belt, Oort cloud, comet
Space Odyssey
Saturn. Saturn and its rings. Second largest planet of the solar system. Space Art
Planets and the Earth’s Moon
1 July 2002: The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite reveals a massive solar eruption more than 30 times the Earth's diameter. The eruption formed when a loop of a magnetic field over the surface of the Sun trapped hot gas.
Brightest Star in the Solar System
Nicolaus Copernicus. Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543) Polish astronomer. In 1543 he published, forward proof of a Heliocentric (sun centered) universe. Coloured stipple engraving published London 1802. De revolutionibus orbium coelestium libri vi.
All About Astronomy
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Solar system illustration. (Sun; planets)
A Model of the Cosmos
Remarkable new details of Pluto's largest moon Charon are revealed in this image from New Horizons' Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), taken late on July 13, 2015 from a distance of 289,000 miles
Why Is Pluto No Longer a Planet?
Galaxy clusters like Abell 2744 can act as a natural cosmic lens, magnifying light from more distant, background objects through gravity. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope may be able to detect light from the first stars in the universe if they are gravitationally lensed by such clusters. (astronomy, space exploration, galaxies)
How Fast Is the Universe Expanding?
Mars rover. Mars Pathfinder. NASA. Sojourner.
10 Important Dates in Mars History
Discover
New York NY/ USA- November 23, 2018 Hordes of shoppers throng the Macy's Herald Square flagship store in New York looking for bargains on the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday.
Why Is It Called Black Friday?
Santa Claus flying in his sleigh, christmas, reindeer
Was Santa Claus a Real Person?
An ancient egyptian hieroglyphic painted carving showing the falcon headed god Horus seated on a throne and holding a golden fly whisk. Before him are the Pharoah Seti and the goddess Isis. Interior wall of the temple to Osiris at Abydos, Egypt.
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Title: Senate Square, St. Petersburg, December 14, 1825: repression of the troop mutiny - watercolor by Carl Ivanovitch Kollman, 1825 depicts Decembrist uprising clashing with cavalry, with spectators watching. (new style December 26, 1825) Europe. Saint
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10 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time
The Cheshire Cat is a fictional cat from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. (Alice in Wonderland)
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A Factory Interior, watercolor, pen and gray ink, graphite, and white goache on wove paper by unknown artist, c. 1871-91; in the Yale Center for British Art. Industrial Revolution England
Inventors and Inventions of the Industrial Revolution

Saturn’s rings and moons

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Written by
Bonnie Buratti
Senior Research Scientist, Principal Scientist and Supervisor: Comets, Asteroids, and Satellites Group, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology.
Bonnie Buratti,
William B. Hubbard
Professor of Planetary Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson. Author of Planetary Interiors.
William B. Hubbard•All
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Last Updated: • Article History

News •

Earth may have had a Saturn-like ring over 400 million years ago, scientists say • Nov. 18, 2024, 12:52 AM ET (CNN)
Study: Saturn’s Moon Titan Has Huge Layer of Methane-filled Ice • Nov. 10, 2024, 11:24 PM ET (Voice of America English News)
Saturn gets its 1st confirmed Trojan asteroid — but it might be stolen • Oct. 24, 2024, 8:51 AM ET (Space.com)

Although Saturn’s rings and moons may seem to constitute two groups of quite different entities, they form a single complex system of objects whose structures, dynamics, and evolution are intimately linked. The orbits of the innermost known moons fall within or between the outermost rings, and new moons continue to be found embedded in the ring structure. Indeed, the ring system itself can be considered to consist of myriad tiny moons—ranging from mere dust specks to car- and house-sized pieces—in their own individual orbits around Saturn. Because of the difficulty in distinguishing between the largest ring particles and the smallest moons, determining a precise number of moons for Saturn may not be possible.