Interesting Facts about the Saturn

• Saturn is the 2nd largest planet in our solar system


• Saturn is considered a gas giant, like Jupiter since it has a thick gas atmosphere.


• Saturn is the 6th planet in our solar system from the sun.


• Saturn is well-known for it rings. The rings are made up of billions of ice chunks.


• Saturn's magnetic field is 1000 times greater than the earth's magnetic field.


• The planet Saturn emits more heat than it receives from the sun. Scientists do not know why.


• Saturn has extremely high wind speeds. Wind speeds near Saturn's equator is estimated at over 1100 mph (1800 km/hr). An F5 tornado, the most devastating tornado on Earth has a top wind speed of 318 mph. The normal wind speed near Saturn's equator is more than 3 times greater than a F5 tornado!


• Saturn has 53 confirmed moons, which is the most in our solar system of any planet.


• Saturn has the only known moon in our solar system with an atmosphere, named Titan. Titan is the second largest moon in our solar system and is larger than the planet Mercury.


• 4 NASA space missions have sent photos back to Earth from Saturn and its moons.


• The Cassini unmanned space mission to Saturn was launched in 1997. It reached Saturn in 2004 and completed its 4-year mission in 2008. The mission has now been successfully extended several times and will continue to gather data and take photos of Saturn and its moons until 2017. Cassini is able to extent its mission because is is powered from Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs). RTGs use the natural decay of plutonium to generate electricity.