Saturn is a planet of the solar system that everyone recognizes. And all thanks to his magnificent rings. Indeed, even from the Earth, with a medium-power telescope, its three main rings are clearly visible. The planet Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun in our Universe. Saturn got its name from the ancient Roman god of agriculture. In ancient times, because of its dim light, which has a dull white tint, as well as its smooth and slow movement through the sky, the planet enjoyed a bad reputation, and birth under the sign of Saturn was considered an evil omen.
The planet Saturn belongs to the group of giant planets. Saturn does not have a solid surface. With the exception of a small core, it is formed mainly of helium and hydrogen and is in a gaseous and liquid state. The atmosphere of the planet, gradually condensing, smoothly turns into a liquid mantle. Despite the fact that Saturn is almost entirely composed of individual gases, it has a magnetic field that is much stronger than Earth's. Looking at the majestic Saturn, you can get a false impression of the serenity and tranquility of the planet. But this is far from true. The strongest hurricanes and winds rage on Saturn, sometimes reachingspeed of 2000 km/h! In addition, here you can see large-scale auroras and powerful lightning discharges in the atmosphere. The light yellow planet Saturn is much simpler in appearance than its bright neighbor Jupiter. Saturn lacks such a colorful cloud cover, although the structure of the atmosphere is almost the same.
But the most important advantage of the planet is its magnificent rings. Famous and unlike anything else, the rings of Saturn never ceased to excite the imagination of scientists and astronomers with their amazing shape. Brilliant astronomers, mathematicians, mechanics and other luminaries of sciences (J. D. Cassini, J. K. Maxwell, P. S. Laplace and many others) were engaged in their study and research. American space satellites visited the planet three times: in 1979, in 1980 and in 1981. Thanks to these interplanetary stations, thousands of photographs of satellites of Saturn's rings penetrating space came to Earth.
The planet Saturn is separated from us by more than a billion kilometers. But if you "jump over" them and look at the rings from a distance of about 100 thousand kilometers, you can see that they are stratified into thousands of thin rings. And they are all different and different from each other. The edges of some are jagged, others deviate from orbit, others sway, bend and form waves, spirals, elliptical rings … All the properties and surprises of the rings are simply impossible to enumerate! If you get close to the rings of Saturn, you can see that they consistfrom billions of particles of ordinary water ice of various sizes: from small grains to loose snow blocks up to 15 m.
In addition to the magnificent rings, the planet Saturn also has 62 satellites. They were named after the ancient heroes of Ancient Rome and Greece: Titan, Dione, Mimas, Calypso, Rhea, Phoebe and others. Almost all of them are ice masses.
In mythology Saturn symbolizes time, Saturday and lead. In his honor, even the holidays "Saturnalia" are held, which became the prototype of the feast of the Nativity of Christ. According to legend, it was Saturn, who personified wisdom and age, who ruled our Universe during its Golden Age.
