Depth 07 · Ringed giant

Saturn

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest, a hydrogen and helium giant best known for its broad, bright rings. It has more confirmed moons than any other planet and is the farthest planet you can see without a telescope.

Fact sheet

Type

Gas giant

Distance

About 1.4 billion km (886 million miles), or 9.5 AU, from the Sun on average

Size

Diameter about 120,500 km (74,900 miles) at the equator, about 9 times Earth's

Discovered

Known since antiquity

On the voyage

Depth 7, in the Outer Sol section of the route, between Europa and Enceladus

Things to know

• Saturn's average density is lower than that of water, so in principle it would float in a big enough bathtub. NASA
• The rings reach up to 282,000 km (175,000 miles) from the planet, yet the main rings are typically only about 10 m (30 feet) thick. NASA
• Saturn has 274 confirmed moons as of March 2025, more than any other planet. NASA
• A six-sided jet stream about 30,000 km (20,000 miles) across circles Saturn's north pole. NASA
• A day on Saturn lasts about 10.7 hours, while one orbit of the Sun takes about 29.4 Earth years. NASA

Missions

Pioneer 11 reached Saturn first in 1979, followed by Voyager 1 (1980) and Voyager 2 (1981); Cassini orbited from 2004 to 2017, and its Huygens probe landed on the moon Titan in 2005.

Sources

• NASA – Saturn: Facts
• NASA NSSDC – Saturn Fact Sheet
• NASA – Saturn Exploration