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Lord of the Rings – Saturn

Lord of the Rings – Saturn

  • 02.11.2020

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Saturn is indeed the "lord of the rings"!

This is a photo of Saturn taken by the Hubble Space Telescope on July 4, 2020. A distinctive ring system can be seen clearly. The rings of Saturn are mainly made of countless particles of water ice, with size ranging from micrometres to metres. If you take a closer look, you will find that the Saturn's ring is actually composed by several rings. There are some gaps between the rings. The most conspicuous one must be the "Cassini Division", separating the A and B rings. Can you find it in the photo?

Saturn's atmosphere is mainly hydrogen and helium with traces of ammonia, methane, water vapor, and hydrocarbons that give it a yellowish-brown appearance. The bands seen in the atmosphere are the result of strong winds in the upper atmosphere. Some of the bands change its colour occasionally.

Besides the rings, Saturn is also the "lord of the satellites". It is currently the planet with the most number of moons in the solar system. At least two of them are visible in this photo. Can you find them?

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