After Jupiter, the star we can find is Saturn, the famous ring star. This ring is actually a band of rocks, dust, and ice around Saturn.
Just like Jupiter, Saturn is mainly made up of gases. It's made up of hydrogen mixed with a little bit of helium, to be precise. So you can't keep your foot on the surface of Saturn.
Saturn is most well-known for its bands of rocks, dust, ice, and more. The materials in the bands are usually very small, but some are tens of kilometers across, all of which revolve around Saturn.
Galileo used his telescope to find the first band of Saturn in 1,610. He thought that the band looked like a small handle on Saturn. It wasn't until later that scientists found the band in the shape of a ring. But they thought that the ring would be very thick and hard. Then they later found that the rotating ring was only a few hundred meters deep.
As with many questions about the universe, scientists still don't know the answer to why this ring exists. Some scientists assume that they failed to form a satellite, while others say that it is a broken piece of the moon. But one day, they will find the answer. Although not as famous as Jupiter's great red storm, Saturn has a big dot in its sign.
About every 30 years, a white spot appears in Saturn's atmosphere, and scientists suspect it is due to a huge storm similar to one on Jupiter. This storm usually lasts for months and does not appear for decades.
It is the least dense of all planets. In fact, it is very light, so it might float if you put it in a big bucket to hold it!
You'll need a telescope to see Saturn's strip, but Saturn itself is visible to the eye. Every 14 years, Saturn's strip aligns with the Earth, which makes it look like an ordinary planet without a strip because it stands side by side. You can see Saturn's strip the year after.
Saturn is derived from the name of a Roman god who lost power. He was the father of Jupiter, the god of sowing and harvesting. The Greeks called this god Kronos and considered him the god of time. That's why Kronos is often depicted as a person who records time.
Characteristics of Saturn
Diameter: 120,514km Length of day (biological cycle): 10.2 hours
Length of one year (air cycle): 29 years on a global basis
Satellites: 18 (discovered up to 33, including so-called stars)
Surface temperature: -180 °C