Saturn - Facts and Theories

Updated 12.11.2013 Saturn, the sixth planet from the Sun,  has been known about since prehistoric times, and was for a long time considered to be the outermost planet in our solar system until the discovery of Uranus in 1781. Saturn appears to the naked eye in the night sky as a bright, yellowish point of light. Most people will require optical aid (very large binoculars or a small telescope) magnifying at least 30× to clearly resolve Saturn's rings - discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei.

Diameter: 120,536 km  - 9.44 times that of Earth
Distance from Earth: Varies daily. As Earth and Saturn  move along their orbital paths they move nearer and further in comparison to each other. The distance is anywhere between 1.2 billion km (roughly 7 AU) and 1.67 billion km (around 11 AU) - when the planets are on opposite sides of the Sun (one billion is in European terms milliard).

SATURN'S MOONS
Saturn has at least 150 moons and moonlets, 53 of which have formal names. Titan is the largest, and also the Solar System's second largest moon - larger than the planet Mercury and the only moon in the Solar System to retain a substantial atmosphere. Rhea is the second largest moon. Some of the moons seem to be helping to keep the Saturn rings in place.

Titan
According to Calgary Herald, the Cassini spacecraft has found small amounts of propylene, a chemical used to make storage containers and other products, in the atmosphere of Titan. Titan is among the few bodies in the solar system with a significant atmosphere made up of hydrocarbons.

Enceladus

Saturn's moon Enceladus, 14% of our moon in size, was discovered by William Herschel in 1789. Enceladus has always been thought of as one of the more remarkable members of Saturn's marble bag of satellites. For one thing, it's dazzlingly bright, reflecting light like a mirror. This is because its surface is covered with ice crystals. Enceladus is not the only moon in the solar system that is home to such a feature. Jupiter's Europa is even more certain to contain a global ocean of its own. On both worlds, organics plus water plus warmth plus time could be more than enough to get biology going.

Time: NASA's Cassini Space Probe Finds New Saturnian Ocean

SPACE MISSIONS TO SATURN

First flyby of Saturn was in September 1979 by Pioneer 11. In November 1980, the Voyager 1 probe visited the Saturn system. Voyager 2 passed by Saturn in 1981. In June 2004 Cassini–Huygens space probe conducted a close flyby of Phoebe (a satellite of Saturn), studied the system extensively, and on July 1 of that year it entered into orbit around Saturn. Includes a Saturn orbiter and an atmospheric probe/lander for the moon Titan called Huygens, which entered and landed on Titan in 2005. The probe's mission was extended to September 2010 and then again to 2017, to "study a full period of Saturn's season".

THE RINGS OF SATURN

Saturn is probably best known for the system of planetary rings that makes it visually unique. The rings extend from 6,630 km to 120,700 km above Saturn's equator, average approximately 20 meters in thickness and are composed of 93% water ice with traces of tholin impurities and 7% amorphous carbon.

Doug Webber writes in his blog how Bob Dean had discussed some huge UFOs in the rings of Saturn caught in Voyager pictures. This caused the scientist Norman R. Bergrun to publish a book entitled The Ringmakers of Saturn, in which he theorized that these huge cylindrical ships were making the rings of Saturn! But Bob Dean says the opposite is more likely: they are mining the rings of Saturn. And you could quite easily believe that if you look at the videos in Webber's blog. Incidentally, the Cassini-Huygens probe began orbiting Saturn in 2004 and its mission was supposed to end in 2008, after 74 completed orbits around the planet. But instead of ending it, NASA decided to extend it for another 2 years, and in 2010 another 7 years. Perhaps the interest in Saturn's seasons is less of a factor than the desire to know more about possible mining? Time will tell.

PHOTOS AND VIDEOS OF SATURN
Below a collection of material from different websites:
Saturn going behind our Moon by Craig Zerbe in 2001-02(at3m33s)
The Truth Behind The Scenes: Alien Motherships and The Ringmakers of Saturn


SATURN IN THE NEWS
2013-0930 NASA probe detects plastic ingredient on Saturn moon (Calgary Herald/Canada) ENG


USEFUL LINKS

- SpaceImages.com - Spirituality, Dreams and Prophecy - The Truth Behind The Scenes - Time: NASA's Cassini Space Probe Finds New Saturnian Ocean - Universe Today - Wiki - Wiki:MoonsOfSaturn -