The planet Saturn..
famous for its rings!
The planet Saturn is sixth from the Sun and is the second largest planet in our solar system. It is also classified as a gas planet, as it is made up of mainly hydrogen.
The planet's most interesting feature is its massive "ring" system. Surrounding the planet are a formation of "rings" containing billions of ice and rock particles, and there are thousands of these rings!
Planet Saturn can be seen without modern technology in ideal conditions, but the rings will only be visible when viewed with a telescope. Often the planet will appear "egg-shaped" depending on when you're looking at it!
It has at least 61 moons, many of which orbit the planet within its rings. Saturn's biggest moon, Titan, is the second largest moon in the entire solar system, next to Jupiter's Ganymede. It is also the only moon in the solar system that has an atmosphere.
Here are some additional facts about Saturn: *Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is bigger than the planet Mercury!
*The particles making up Saturn's ring system vary in size, from grains of sand to the size of buildings!
*Particles that make up Saturn's rings may be left over pieces of moons that were smashed by asteroid impacts.
*In about 50 million years it is expected that all of Saturn's rings will be gone. The planet's gravitational pull will likely collect all of the surrounding particles and the rings will slowly disappear.
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