The Planets - Saturn

Updated May 8, 2019 | Infoplease Staff

Saturn, the second-largest planet, has majestic rings surrounding it. Named for the Roman god of farming, Saturn was the farthest planet known by the ancients. Saturn's seven rings are flat and lie inside one another. They are made of billions of ice particles.

• Size: About 10 times larger than Earth in diameter
• Diameter: 74,978 miles (120,660 km)
• Surface: Liquid and gas
• Atmosphere: Hydrogen and helium
• Temperature: –288°F (–178°C)
• Rotation of its axis: 10 hours, 40 min, 24 sec


• Rotation around the Sun: 29¹/2 Earth years
• Your weight: If you weigh 100 pounds on Earth, you would weigh 107 pounds on Saturn.
• Distance from Earth: 744 million miles at the closest point
• Mean Distance from Sun: 887.14 million miles (1,427 million km)
• Satellites: 31
• Rings: 1,000?

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