NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Saturn is the second largest planet. Only Jupiter is larger. Saturn has seven thin, flat rings around it. The rings are made up of many thin ringlets, or small rings. The ringlets are made up of small pieces of ice. All these shiny pieces travel around the planet, making Saturn one of the most beautiful objects in space. Jupiter, Neptune, and Uranus are the only other planets that are known to have rings.

Image to left: Saturn, the second largest planet in the solar system, has seven rings made up of shiny bits of ice. In this photograph, a section of the rings is hidden by the planet's shadow. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Saturn can be seen from Earth. However, the rings of Saturn cannot be seen from Earth without a telescope.

Saturn is the sixth closest planet to the sun. It travels around the sun in an oval-shaped orbit, or path. The planet takes about 10,759 Earth days, or about 29.5 Earth years, to go around the sun. Earth takes 365 days, or one year, to travel around the sun.

Saturn rotates, or spins around, faster than any other planet except Jupiter. Saturn spins around once in only 10 hours and 39 minutes. Earth rotates once in 24 hours, or one day.

Most scientists believe Saturn is a giant ball of gas that has no solid, or hard, surface. However the planet seems to have a hot, solid center of iron and rocky material. Scientists do not think that any form of life exists on Saturn. Saturn has at least 18* satellites, or moons. The largest moon is Titan.

How to cite this article: To cite this article, World Book recommends the following format: "Saturn." The World Book Student Discovery Encyclopedia. Chicago: World Book, Inc., 2005.

* Note from editor: Fifty-nine moons have been discovered around Saturn.

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