rom the Sun is over 850 million miles, compared to Earths which is 93 million miles. Saturns orbit, the path it follows around the Sun, is nearly a circle. The closest the planet has come to the Sun is around 840 million miles, while the furthest away it gets is 930 million miles. Since Saturn is so far away from the Sun, it takes a very long time for it to complete its orbit of the Sun. Saturns year equals 29 and one-half Earth years. A day on Saturn, though, is much shorter than an Earth day; it rotates around once every ten and one-half hours (Kuhn 280-282).Saturn is the second largest planet in the solar system. Jupiter is the only planet that is larger. The gas giant is 72 thousand miles in diameter, almost ten times the size of Earth. In spite of its huge size, though, Saturn weighs very little. It is a very light gas planet. Saturn is the least dense planet in the solar system-- so light, in fact, that it would float in water. This planet is mostly composed of hydrogen and helium, like Jupiter, but it is much less dense. The combination of its light weight and fast rotation causes Saturn to spread out, or oblate, its center. Since Saturn is a gas planet, it does not have a solid surface. Spacecraft are unable to land on this type of surface. The clouds that are seen when looking at Saturn are just the top layer of a very deep layer that covers a center of liquid hydrogen. The clouds are blown by constant winds that reach speeds up to one thousand miles per hour at the equator of the planet (Great Space Place). The rings of Saturn are more spectacular than those of any other planet. Although this planets rings are very wide, extending from the top of its atmosphere to well beyond the orbits of its closest moons, they are very thin, measuring no more than a few kilometers (about a mile) in thickness (Great Space Place). The Pioneer 11 flyby made several discoveries about the rings. The rings are made of particle...
