Saturn, the sixth planet from the Sun, revolves around the Sun in a slightly elliptical orbit at a mean distance of 1.4294 billion kilometers (888,188,000 miles) in 29.42 years. Perhaps best known for its rings, Saturn also has a large collection of moons orbiting around it.

Physical and Orbital Properties

One of four gas giant outer planets (along with Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune), Saturn is the second most massive planet in the solar system. It has a mass equivalent to 95.159 times Earth's and possesses an atmosphere composed primarily of the gases hydrogen and helium (by mass, comprising approximately 78 percent and 22 percent of the atmosphere, respectively).

It is the trace elements and their compounds that give the planet its golden color and the faint banded structure of the cloud tops in its lower-most stratosphere. Methane, ethane, other carbon compounds, and ammonia are observed in the atmosphere. Winds can exceed 450 meters per second...