Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest. He lost the championship to Jupiter, but this did not stop him from provoking keen interest among astrophysicists. Saturn is the flattest planet of our solar system, characterized by incredible beauty, which is complemented by a variety of rings. The latter are of interest to astrophysicists no less than the giant himself.
The desire to thoroughly study this planet has long excited scientists. Research continues to this day. Now this process is simplified by modern, more powerful devices. Today we will find out what age is Saturn and its rings, as well as find out interesting facts about this planet and some of its most unusual satellites.
From antiquity to the present day
It is hard to say who first discovered Saturn. Even ancient people watched him. But the first Saturn saw through the telescope Galileo, to whom the ring system of the planet, due to the imperfection of the apparatus, seemed strange ledges. Moreover, a few years later, again looking at Saturn, he did not see these protrusions.
Interesting fact! Saturn is one of the five planets that can be seen with the naked eye from Earth. To an idle observer, he will seem a large, bright star.
The name of the planet comes from the name of the patron saint of the crop in Roman mythology. By the way, it was Jupiter that was the father of Saturn. After all, both of these planets are similar in size and composition.
Also, the word "Saturn" has one root with the English word Saturday (Saturday).
Since 2004, Saturn has been the object of observation for the Cassini interplanetary station, which regularly provides new information about the planet. It is truly unique, because the interest of researchers in it is quite explainable.
Gas giant
Saturn is second only to Jupiter in size and significantly exceeds our Earth in volumes (more precisely, 95 times). But on Saturn, as on Earth, there are seasons, and at the north pole sometimes the northern lights appear. Perhaps this is the only similarity of such different planets. During a change of season, the color of the planet changes.
Saturn is considered a gas giant, as are Neptune, Uranus and Jupiter. This is due to the lack of a solid surface on it. In its atmosphere, hydrogen and helium predominate.
Interesting fact! Since the gas giant is mainly composed of hydrogen and helium, its density is lower than the density of water. That is, if it were reduced in size and placed in the bathroom, he would have swum in the water.
In its lower region are traces of water ice. The temperature can drop to -150 degrees, which makes Saturn one of the least friendly planets. However, some of his companions, as scientists have found, are more suitable for life.
Saturn rotation speed
Saturn is second only to Jupiter in speed of rotation, making a revolution in 10.5 hours. But the so-called "period of Saturn" (the cycle of its revolution around the Sun) is 30 years. That is, after 30 years, Saturn returns to the same position in heaven in which it was at the birth of man. Astrologers say that in the life of everyone this line is very important. Dramatic changes can affect every aspect of life.
Also in the atmosphere of Saturn there are yellow and beige stripes - these are winds, the speed of which sometimes reaches 1800 km / h. Their speed is explained by the fast rotation of Saturn.
How old is Saturn?
The age of Saturn, according to scientists, is 4.6 billion years.
According to one theory, all the planets of the solar system formed simultaneously. About 100 billion years ago, the galaxy was filled with the remains of ancient stars - particles of gas, dust and heavy metals. It is these "materials" that have become the basis of our solar system. This process probably took more than 200 million years.
However, scientists are increasingly doubting their own theories. Indeed, today it is known that planets outside the solar system are distinguished by a huge variety of shapes, colors, axial tilts. They refute any theories of planet birth that have been put forward earlier.
So, according to another version, the age of Saturn is 21 billion years. How to calculate the age of the planet Saturn? This figure was obtained from the calculation of its density.
The thing is that the age of the planet is determined by studying rocks taken from the upper layer of the space giant, as well as evaluating the solar neutrino, etc. However, if the celestial body consists of layers that overlap each other, then the top layer is just the tip of the iceberg. This theory suggests that it is impossible to accurately determine the age of Saturn (and the planets of the solar system as a whole). However, the density calculation allows you to call approximate figures.
Close attention of scientists is caused not only by Saturn, but also by its "accompaniment" - rings and satellites. The age of Saturn's rings is especially interesting for astrophysicists.
Saturn's rings - features and age
Rings are accumulations of debris of ice and stone, the diameter of which is hundreds of thousands of kilometers. Their thickness varies from a dozen meters to several kilometers. Moreover, some rings recently discovered ... mountains! So called thickened areas of the rings. As it turned out, these mountains can reach a height of 3 km.
Since the rings of Saturn, for the most part, were formed from opaque ice, this explains why they are so clearly visible through a telescope, because ice has a high solar reflectivity.
Later, the ice was polluted by the remnants of cosmic bodies, which were attracted, and then destroyed the giant magnetic field of the planet, stretching over 1,000,000 km. It could be asteroids, comets, meteors, moons.
Outwardly, the rings of this gas giant are unique and incredibly beautiful. Saturn is surrounded by thousands of rings of various sizes and colors. They are incredibly diverse and numerous, but the reasons for this diversity are still unknown.
The age of the rings, which was recently determined, is from 100 to 200 million years. That is, they are much younger than the planet itself and, most importantly, much younger than the researchers thought before. However, these figures are inaccurate. The thing is that the exact composition of the rings is unknown, and without these details it is impossible to identify their exact age.
Saturn's rings disappear?
Scientists believe that the rings of the gas giant are separate particles that rotate freely around it, retaining the ring shape only due to gravity. Moreover, these particles can be both microscopic and the size of entire mansions. It is noteworthy that, having reached the size of the house, they cease to "grow". How to explain this? Scientists are still asking this question.
Sometimes it seems that the planet suddenly lost its rings. It was the fact of their disappearance in the distant 1610 that puzzled Galileo Galilei. However, in fact, they do not disappear, but only become less noticeable due to the inclination of the plane. True, scientists are sure that soon the rings of Saturn will simply disperse.
Alien voice?
Altogether, Saturn was visited by only 4 devices, the last of which, “Cassini”, has regularly sent information about the planet to Earth for more than 10 years. And while working with Voyager-1 and Voyager-2, scientists recorded an interesting fact - when the apparatus approached, the rings of Saturn emitted short radio pulses every 10 hours, as if greeting aliens. Ufologists immediately started talking about aliens on Saturn, but over all these years their assumptions have not been confirmed.
The most interesting satellites of Saturn are Enceladus and Titan.
At Saturn, astrological research confirms this, more than 150 satellites. Each of them has an ice surface. The most interesting of them is Enceladus - the first of the open satellites of the planet. Scientists are sure that under the crust of ice hides a water ocean. The theory appeared after it was possible to get salt water with organic molecules at the south pole of Enceladus. These are chemicals necessary for life. Alas, the assumption that life can be found in the deep ocean of Enceladus is not yet verified. No less promising for the birth of a new life is also Europe, the satellite of Jupiter, and Mars.
Titan is the largest satellite of Saturn and the second largest of the moons of our solar system. Only Jupiter’s satellite, Ganymede, “outgrew” it. The study of this cosmic body is especially interesting for scientists.
First of all, it is surprising that he has an atmosphere, because all the other satellites of the solar system are atmosphereless due to the lack of gravity. It consists of nitrogen and has a high density. Today, Titan is a cold planet, which receives 100 times less sunlight than our Earth. Scientists believe that once our Earth exactly resembled Titan.
Thanks to modern devices, researchers were able to see the surface of Titan. It turned out to be similar to the surface of the Earth - mountains, plains, lakes, seas. However, liquids on the surface of Titanium are methane and other, more complex substances. Water is present in gaseous and liquid and in solid state. Despite the general similarity, the satellite’s landscape is very different from the landscape of our planet.
Conclusion
Today we examined the most beautiful and unusual planet (of course, not counting our Earth) of the solar system. They found out what age is the planet Saturn and its rings, what are its features. This unique giant still raises many questions among astrophysicists. And once, they are sure of this, answers to questions will be received. In the meantime, Saturn's research continues ...