Saturn can be seen with the naked eye:
It is the fifth brightest object in the solar system and is also easily studied through binoculars or a small telescope.
Saturn was known to the ancients, including the Babylonians and Far Eastern observers:
It is named for the Roman god Saturnus, and was known to the Greeks as Cronus.
Saturn is the flattest planet:
Its polar diameter is 90% of its equatorial diameter, this is due to its low density and fast rotation. Saturn turns on its axis once every 10 hours and 34 minutes giving it the second-shortest day of any of the solar system’s planets.
Saturn orbits the Sun once every 29.4 Earth years:
Its slow movement against the backdrop of stars earned it the nickname of “Lubadsagush” from the ancient Assyrians. The name means “oldest of the old”.
It is the fifth brightest object in the solar system and is also easily studied through binoculars or a small telescope.
Saturn was known to the ancients, including the Babylonians and Far Eastern observers:
It is named for the Roman god Saturnus, and was known to the Greeks as Cronus.
Saturn is the flattest planet:
Its polar diameter is 90% of its equatorial diameter, this is due to its low density and fast rotation. Saturn turns on its axis once every 10 hours and 34 minutes giving it the second-shortest day of any of the solar system’s planets.
Saturn orbits the Sun once every 29.4 Earth years:
Its slow movement against the backdrop of stars earned it the nickname of “Lubadsagush” from the ancient Assyrians. The name means “oldest of the old”.