Categories: Astronomy

Saturn Fact Sheet

[/caption]
The following Saturn fact sheet is based on NASA’s excellent planetary fact sheets. Saturn is the 6th planet from the Sun, and the second largest planet in the Solar System.

Mass: 568.46 x 1024 kg
Volume: 82,713 x 1010 km3
Average radius: 58,232 km
Average diameter: 116,464 km
Mean density: 0.687 g/cm3
Escape velocity: 35.5 km/s
Surface gravity: 10.44 m/s2
Natural satellites: 60
Rings? – Yes
Semimajor axis: 1,433,530,000 km
Orbit period: 10,759.22 days
Perihelion: 1,352,550,000 km
Aphelion: 1,514,500,000 km
Mean orbital velocity: 9.69 km/s
Orbit inclination: 2.485°
Orbit eccentricity: 0.0565
Sidereal rotation period: 10.656 hours
Length of day: 10.656 hours
Axial tilt: 26.73°
Discovery: Known since prehistoric times
Minimum distance from Earth: 1,195,500,000 km
Maximum distance from Earth: 1,658,500,000 km
Maximum apparent diameter from Earth: 20.1 arc seconds
Minimum apparent diameter from Earth: 14.5 arc seconds
Maximum visual magnitude: 0.43

We’ve written many articles about Saturn for Universe Today. Here’s an article about the rotation of Saturn, and here’s an article about the atmosphere of Saturn.

If you’d like more info on Saturn, check out Hubblesite’s News Releases about Saturn. And here’s a link to the homepage of NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which is orbiting Saturn.

We’ve also recorded an entire episode of Astronomy Cast just about Saturn. Listen here, Episode 59: Saturn.

Fraser Cain

Fraser Cain is the publisher of Universe Today. He's also the co-host of Astronomy Cast with Dr. Pamela Gay. Here's a link to my Mastodon account.

Recent Posts

Is the Habitable Worlds Observatory a Good Idea?

The Habitable Worlds Observatory, NASA’s planned successor to the James Webb Space Telescope, will be…

14 hours ago

Spring-loaded Robot Could Explore the Asteroid Belt Almost Indefinitely

The asteroid belt beckons - it contains enough resources for humans to expand into the…

1 day ago

Stunning 80 Megapixel Image of a Stellar Nursery

RCW 38 is a molecular cloud of ionized hydrogen (HII) roughly 5,500 light-years from Earth…

1 day ago

Many Stars Could Have Sent Us ‘Oumuamua

When astronomers detected the first known interstellar object, 'Oumuamua, in 2017, it sparked a host…

1 day ago

Construction of Roman Continues With the Addition of its Sunshade

NASA continues to progress with the development of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (RST),…

2 days ago

A Flaming Flower in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Our neighbour, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), is rich in gas and dust and hosts…

2 days ago