A Literary Analysis of the Atmosphere on the Planet Saturn

Analysis, Pages 3 (737 words)

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The Atmosphere

The dramatic appearance of Saturn stems mainly from the spectacular rings. The atmosphere looks much less dramatic. The clouds of Saturn are much less colorful than those of Jupiter. This is because the composition of Saturn’s atmosphere includes more sulfur. The atmosphere of Saturn, like Jupiter, is only a narrow surface layer, compared to the vast interior of Saturn. The three cloud decks of Saturn are to be found mostly low in the troposphere, while hazes of smog can be found higher in the atmosphere.

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Saturn is not much changed from its early evolution out of the primordial solar nebula, and in fact, may still be evolving. Motions in the cloud patterns indicate that, like Jupiter, the basic meteorology of Saturn can be described as a striped pattern of winds.

The Interior Of Saturn

The Giant planets do not have the same layered structure that the terrestrial planets do. Their evolution was quite different than that of the terrestrial planets, and they have less solid material.

Motions in the interior of Saturn contribute in a very special way to the development of the powerful and extensive magnetosphere of Saturn. The heat generated within Saturn contributes to the unusual motions of the atmosphere.

Saturn’s Magnetosphere

Saturn’s magnetosphere is not as big as Jupiter’s, but it is still pretty big. It is big enough to hold all of Saturn’s moons. It is probably made the same way as Jupiter’s, which affects its overall shape and structure.

The shape is also affected by the fact that Saturn’s moon Titan does not contribute a very large cloud to the magnetosphere.

The rings of Saturn affect the motion of particles in the magnetosphere. Saturn’s magnetosphere produces beautiful aurora, as well as strong radio signals and other waves, such as whistler waves.

Saturn’s Moons and Rings

Saturn has 28 fascinating moons and a complicated ring system. The moon Titan is one of the only moons in the solar system with a significant atmosphere. Other unusual moons of Saturn include the “Death Star” shaped Mimas the half-black, half-white Iapetus, and the garbage-can-shaped Hyperion.

Some moons are icy and resemble the three outer GalileGalileansothers are small moons and resemble large rocks in space. Other moons, in order, are; Pan, Atlas, Prometheus, Pandora, Epimetheus, Janus, Enceladus, Tethys, Telesto, Calypso, Dione Helene, Rhea, and Phoebe.

Saturn has 28 moons

Moons and the years they were discovered

Atlas 1980

Calypso 1980

Dione 1684

Enceladus 1789

Epimetheus 1966

Helene 1980

Hyperion 1848

Iapetus 1671

Janus 1966

Pan 1990

Pandora 1980

Phoebe 1898

Prometheus 1980

Rhea 1672

S/2000 S1 2000

S/2000 S2 2000

S/2000 S3 2000

S/2000 S4 2000

S/2000 S5 2000

S/2000 S6 2000

S/2000 S7 2000

S/2000 S8 2000

S/2000 S9 2000

S/2000 S10 2000

Telesto 1980

Tethys 1684

Titan 1655

Little Facts

Planetary Symbol:

Name in Roman/Greek Mythology: Saturn/Cronus

Diameter: 119,871 km (74,500 miles)

Rotation Period about Axis: 10.67 hrs

Mass: 586.5×10^24 kilograms (95 x Earth’s)

Revolution Period about the Sun: 29.5 years

Density: 687 kg/m^3

The tilt of Axis: 260 42″

Minimum Distance from Sun: 1.35 billion km (840 million miles)

Surface Gravity: 8.96 m/s^2 (0.92 x Earth’s)

Maximum Distance from Sun: 1.5 billion km (938 million miles)

The temperature at Cloud Tops: -1700 C (-2740 F)

Orbital Semimajor Axis: 9.53 AU (Earth=1 AU)

Average Cloud Top Temperature (K): 103K

Minimum Distance from Earth: 1.2 billion km (746 million miles)

Satellites/Rings: 28 known moons, many rings

Saturn s moons, what are they named after?

Roman: Atlas

Ancient Romans Atlas was the leader of the giant Titans who fought a war against the gods. The head of the gods was Jupiter, who was fighting against his father, the Titan Saturn, to gain control of the world. When Jupiter won the war, he severely punished Atlas by making him carry the sky on his shoulders.

A moon of the planet Saturn was named after the Titan Atlas for fighting with his brother Saturn.

Atlas was the father of the Pleiades, the Hyades, and the Hesperides. The Hesperides were the guardians of a tree of golden apples. The earth goddess Gaea gave the tree to Juno, the wife of Jupiter, as a wedding present.

The tree was in a secret location. Nevertheless, an oracle told Atlas that a son of Jupiter would one day steal the golden apples guarded by his daughters. For this reason, Atlas refused to let anyone visit his home. One day, a famous hero, Perseus passed by where Atlas was living. When Atlas denied hospitality to him, Perseus, showed Atlas the head of the Gorgon Medusa, which could turn anything into stone. The giant Atlas was immediately transformed into the homonymous mountains in northwest Africa.