🕷️ Crawler Inspector

URL Lookup

Direct Parameter Lookup

Raw Queries and Responses

1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 196 (from laksa086)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa196.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.planetary.org/worlds/saturn\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.planetary.org/worlds/saturn\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/worlds\/saturn","crawl_time":1776622955,"first_indexed_time":1596001714,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"org,planetary!www,\/worlds\/saturn s443","src_root_hash":"5518413110732812796","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"Saturn, planet of rings, moons and more to… | The Planetary Society","meta_descriptions":["Saturn has a stunning set of rings, diverse moons, and so much more to explore."],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"Highlights\nSaturn is the second-largest planet, boasting a stunning set of rings that can be seen in backyard telescopes.\nIts complex, planet-like moons make Saturn a solar system unto itself.\nNASA's Dragonfly mission, which is expected to launch in June 2027, will explore Saturn's largest moon, Titan.\nWhy we study Saturn\nThe real\nLord of the Rings\nis Saturn, a massive outer planet boasting a set of rings about 27\nEarths\nwide. Being a gas giant like\nJupiter\n, Saturn shares many of its attributes: a strong magnetic field generated by churning metallic hydrogen deep inside, raging storms in its gaseous upper atmosphere, and a diversity of\nplanet-like moons\nthat are worlds unto themselves. Saturn’s rings and larger moons are visible even from small backyard telescopes.\nSaturn was born roughly 4.5 billion years ago in the Solar System’s early days. Both Saturn and Jupiter probably formed closer or farther from the Sun than they are today, then migrated to their current positions later. Their gravitational influence likely flung asteroids and comets all over the Solar System, some of which slammed into early Earth and may have delivered water here.\nWe know of\nmore than 5,000 exoplanets\n — worlds orbiting beyond the Solar System — and the statistics show that most stars have planets. Many are Jupiter and Saturn-like worlds close to their stars. One exoplanet we’ve found appears to have\nrings 200 times wider than Saturn’s\n. What we learn about Saturn helps us understand similar exoplanets, and vice versa. \nWhat are Saturn's rings like up close?\nSaturn’s rings are mostly made of water ice, ranging from the size of a speck of dust, to a house, to a mountain. The largest chunks, known as moonlets, have enough gravity to clear small gaps,\ndistort\nthe rings’ shape, and cause\nwave-like disturbances\n.\nWhere did Saturn's rings come from?\nScientists think\nSaturn’s rings\nformed when a large moon got too close to Saturn and was ripped apart due to intense gravitational forces — or. that the rings are leftover material from when Saturn formed. The rings are gradually being pulled into Saturn and will\ndisappear completely within 300 million years\n. The other giant planets — Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune — each have their own ring systems, though none rival the grandeur of Saturn's.\nLike our other three outer planets, Saturn is a solar system unto itself, with many compelling targets to study.\nSaturn’s moons\nIn addition to boasting an impressive ring system, Saturn has\nat least 124 moons\n, the largest of which are\nactive, planet-like worlds\n.\nTitan\nLarger than Mercury,\nTitan\nhas an orange, hazy atmosphere that may be similar to what Earth’s was like before life arose here around 3.5 billion years ago. Complex, organic molecules — one of the building blocks for life as we know it — form Titan’s atmosphere and rain from the skies. By studying Titan, we can learn more about potentially habitable environments for life throughout the Universe.\nThe surface of Titan is strikingly similar to Earth, with some key differences: Titan has\nmountains\nand dunes made of mostly ice rather than rock, and\nrivers\n,\nlakes and seas\nfilled with methane and ethane instead of liquid water.\nA liquid-water ocean probably exists beneath the surface\n, though we don’t know if the chemical mix is conducive to life, or if there’s an energy source to power life, like the\nhydrothermal vents in Earth’s oceans\n.\nTitan, a moon with familiar vistas\nSaturn's largest moon, Titan, is both the only other place in the Solar System with liquid on its surface and the only moon with a thick atmosphere, making it a tantalizing destination to search for life.\nEnceladus\nAt just 500 kilometers (310 miles) wide,\nEnceladus\ncould fit\ncomfortably inside the U.S. state of Arizona. But this moon has a big\nsecret under its icy crust: a saltwater ocean, which leaks into space\nvia geysers on the surface to form one of Saturn’s outer rings. We know\nthe ocean contains complex organic materials.\nCould it also contain\nlife\n?\nMimas\nMimas boasts a massive crater that makes it eerily similar to the Death Star from\nStar Wars\n. It too may have a subsurface ocean, though material from the ocean does not appear to leak up to the surface.\nThe photogenic oddballs\nSome of Saturn’s smaller moons are among the most photogenic in our solar system.\nDione\nand\nRhea\nare cratered snowball worlds with rocky cores.\nHyperion\nlooks like a giant sponge or coral reef.\nIapetus\nis two-faced, with an icy half and a dark half coated with material coming from the comet-like moon Phoebe. And then there’s\nPan\n,\na moon whose gravity has grabbed enough material from Saturn’s rings to\nmake it look like a flying saucer or dumpling, depending on who you\nask.\nSaturn's largest moons, to scale\nThis montage shows Saturn's largest moons to scale using data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The images are part of a\nlarger collage that can be found here\n.\nImage: NASA \/ JPL-Caltech \/ Montage by Emily Lakdawalla \/ Processing by Processing by Ted Stryk, Gordan Ugarkovic, Emily Lakdawalla, and Jason Perry.\nSaturn Facts\nAverage temperature\n: -138°C (-218°F) where atmospheric pressure equals sea level on Earth\nAverage distance from Sun\n: 1,434 million kilometers (891 million miles), or 9.5 times farther from the Sun than Earth\nDiameter\n: 120,536 kilometers (74,898 miles), Saturn is 9.4 times wider than Earth\nVolume\n: 827 trillion km3 (198 trillion mi3), Earth could fit inside Saturn 827 times\nGravity\n: 9 m\/s², or 92% that of Earth’s\nSolar day\n: 11 Earth hours\nSolar year\n: 10,759 Earth days\nAtmosphere\n: 96% hydrogen, 3% helium, 1% other gases\nHow we study Saturn\nChristiaan Huygens first glimpsed Saturn’s rings and the planet’s largest moon, Titan, through a telescope in the 1650s. Shortly thereafter, Giovanni Cassini found 4 more moons and the planet’s largest ring gap, now named the Cassini Division in his honor.\nNASA’s Pioneer 11 was the first spacecraft to visit Saturn, flying past the planet in 1979 and revealing yet another outer ring. Voyager 1 flew by a year later, swinging by Titan to get a good look at the moon’s thick orange atmosphere. Voyager 2 flew closer to Saturn itself, discovering the planet’s upper atmosphere was a chilly -200 degrees Celsius (-328 degrees Fahrenheit), and finding trace amounts of ammonia crystals that give Saturn its pale yellow hue.\nIn 2004, Cassini-Huygens, a joint robotic mission by NASA and the European Space Agency, became the first spacecraft to orbit Saturn. One of the most revolutionary space missions of all time, Cassini spent 13 Earth years — almost half a Saturn year — watching how the planet and its moons changed with the seasons as they orbited the Sun.\nOn Saturn itself, Cassini studied the\nhexagonal storm\nat the planet’s north pole first seen by Voyager 2 in 1981, and\ndiscovered\na smaller, circular vortex on the south pole. The north pole storm is remarkably symmetric and has a central eyewall akin to Earth’s hurricanes. Cassini also observed a\nplanet-wide megastorm\nthat appears roughly every Saturn year—30 Earth years. The spacecraft also\nmapped the structure and shape\nof Saturn’s magnetic field and narrowed down\nthe planet’s rotation rate\n — less than half an Earth day, even though Saturn is 9.5 Earths wide.\nShortly after its arrival at Saturn, Cassini released the European Huygens probe, which landed on Titan’s surface in 2005 — a first for any world in the outer Solar System. As Huygens descended, it gathered data on the\ncomplex\nchemistry\nhappening in Titan’s atmosphere. Post-landing, the probe took the first-ever images from Titan’s surface and survived for 2 hours, despite frigid temperatures of about -180 degrees Celsius (-292 degrees Fahrenheit).\nAs it performed long, swooping orbits around Saturn, Cassini repeatedly flew by many of the planet’s moons. The spacecraft’s cloud-penetrating radar pierced Titan’s orange haze, allowing scientists to create a\nglobal geologic surface map\n. Gravity measurements by Cassini and radio measurements by Huygens showed that Titan likely\nharbors a large subsurface ocean\nof water. Cassini also directly imaged Enceladus spewing water from its subsurface ocean out into space. Mission operators flew the spacecraft directly through a plume, leading to the\ndiscovery of organic materials\nusing Cassini’s onboard mass spectrometer, which determines the chemical makeup of materials passing through it.\nCassini performed what NASA dubbed the \"Grand Finale\" of its mission in 2017: a number of passes between Saturn and its inner rings. In these close encounters, Cassini measured the mass of the rings based on how the spacecraft was gently tugged toward them, and found them to weigh less than even the small moon Mimas, which is just 200 kilometers (124 miles) wide. Combined with the fact that the rings are bright, undarkened by constant space weathering, this hinted that they may be\nless than 100 million years old\n, which would be very young in geological terms. Cassini\nended its mission with an intentional plunge into Saturn\nin September 2017, becoming a permanent part of the planet it was sent to study.\nCassini left an impressive legacy for future missions. As an all-purpose flagship spacecraft, it was designed to answer general questions about Saturn and its moons, and help us figure out questions for new missions to answer.\nThe next — and at the moment, only — spacecraft heading to the Saturn system is\nDragonfly\n. Dragonfly is a NASA mission to Titan scheduled to launch in June 2027. The spacecraft is an eight-bladed drone-like craft called a quadcopter that will make short flights around the surface.\nDragonfly will study the chemicals that rain from Titan’s atmosphere onto the surface. Because we think Titan’s atmosphere is similar to Earth’s when life arose around 3.5 billion years ago, the mission will help us understand possible environments for life here and elsewhere.\nLife as we know it needs three things: an energy source like sunlight, a liquid solvent like water, and complex, organic molecules that bond with one another. Titan has the organic molecules, but it’s very cold, and hosts liquid methane and ethane on its surface instead of water. Dragonfly will, in a sense, be studying an alternate version of Earth. It will see how Titan relates to life as we know it — and to theoretical forms of life unlike anything we’ve ever imagined.\nCassini makes the plunge\nNASA's Cassini spacecraft plunges toward the gap between Saturn and its rings.\nLearn more\nThe best pictures of Saturn's rings\nEvery mission to Saturn ever\nHow long is a day on Saturn?\nAction Center\nWhether it's advocating, teaching, inspiring, or learning, you can do something for space, right now. Let's get to work.\nAcknowledgements\n: This page was initially written by\nJatan Mehta\nin 2020.\nEmpowering the world's citizens to advance space science and exploration.\nAccount Center\n•\nContact Us\n•\nPrivacy Policy\nGive with confidence. The Planetary Society is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.\n© 2026 The Planetary Society. All rights reserved.\nCookie Declaration","attrs_markdown":"[![Crew-2 over Washington D.C.](https:\/\/planetary.s3.amazonaws.com\/sites\/planetary\/images\/bar-crew-2-washington-dc.jpg)](https:\/\/connect.planetary.org\/68?s_cid=advocacy2026&s_pkgsrc=advocacy2026-unsol&s_src=advocacy2026&s_subsrc=lowerbar)\n\n## SAVING NASA Science\nYour donation powers our advocacy when it matters most.\n\n## SAVING NASA Science\nYour donation powers our advocacy when it matters most.\n\n[Donate Today](https:\/\/connect.planetary.org\/68?s_cid=advocacy2026&s_pkgsrc=advocacy2026-unsol&s_src=advocacy2026&s_subsrc=lowerbar)\n\n[Skip to main content](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/worlds\/saturn#main-content)\n\n[Community](https:\/\/community.planetary.org\/) [Account](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/accountcenter) [Renew](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/renew-membership) [Search]()\n\n[![Planetary Society logo](https:\/\/planetary.s3.amazonaws.com\/sites\/planetary\/images\/TPS_Logo_3Stack-White.svg)](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/)\n\n[![Planetary Society logo](https:\/\/planetary.s3.amazonaws.com\/sites\/planetary\/images\/TPS_Logomark-White.svg)](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/)\n\n- [Our Work]()\n- [Explore Space]()\n- [Take Action]()\n- [About]()\n- [Donate](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/donate)\n- [Join](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/membership)\n- [Search]()\n- [Menu]()\n\n[Join]()\n\n- [Become A Member](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/membership)\n- [Renew](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/renew-membership)\n- [Gift Membership](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/gift-membership)\n- [Kids Membership](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/planetary-academy)\n- [Other Ways to Give](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/giving)\n\n[Donate](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/donate)\n\n[Join](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/membership) [Donate](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/donate)\n\n[Back To Main Menu]()\n\n- ### What We Do\n  - [![hand reaching toward planet](https:\/\/planetary.s3.amazonaws.com\/sites\/planetary\/images\/explore_worlds.svg)Explore Worlds](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/explore-worlds)\n  - [![hand pointing to dna](https:\/\/planetary.s3.amazonaws.com\/sites\/planetary\/images\/find_life.svg)Find Life](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/find-life)\n  - [![fist blocking meteor](https:\/\/planetary.s3.amazonaws.com\/sites\/planetary\/images\/defend_earth.svg)Defend Earth](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/defend-earth)\n- ### How We Work\n  - [Education & Public Outreach](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/outreach)\n  - [Space Policy & Advocacy](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-policy-advocacy)\n  - [Science & Technology](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/sci-tech)\n  - [Global Collaboration](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/global)\n- ### Our Results\n  - [Our ImpactLearn how our members and community are changing the worlds.](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/about\/our-impact)\n  - [LightSailOur citizen-funded spacecraft successfully demonstrated solar sailing for CubeSats.](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/sci-tech\/lightsail)\n\n[Back To Main Menu]()\n\n- ### Space Topics\n  - [Planets & Other Worlds](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/worlds)\n  - [Space Missions](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-missions)\n  - [Night Sky](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/night-sky)\n  - [Space Policy](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-policy)\n  - [For Kids](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/kids)\n- ### Learn\n  - [Articles](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/articles)\n  - [Planetary Radio](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/planetary-radio)\n  - [Space Images](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-images)\n  - [Videos](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/video)\n  - [Courses](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/courses)\n- ### The Planetary Report\n  [![Comet 67P\/Churyumov-Gerasimenko](https:\/\/planetary.s3.amazonaws.com\/sites\/planetary\/images\/menu-tpr-comet-67p-cg.jpg)Beyond the PlanetsComets and Kuiper Belt Objects.](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/planetary-report)\n\n[Back To Main Menu]()\n\n- ### Get Involved\n  - [Become A MemberMembership programs for explorers of all ages.](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/membership)\n  - [Email SignupGet updates and weekly tools to learn, share, and advocate for space exploration.](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/connect)\n  - [Action CenterVolunteer as a space advocate.](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/action-center)\n- ### Support Our Mission\n  - [Renew Membership](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/renew-membership)\n  - [Society Projects](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/donate)\n  - [Travel](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/travel)\n  - [Other Ways to Give](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/giving)\n  - [Store](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/shop)\n- ### The Planetary Fund\n  ![Europa mosaic](https:\/\/planetary.s3.amazonaws.com\/sites\/planetary\/images\/menu-europa.jpg)\n  Accelerate progress in our three core enterprises — Explore Worlds, Find Life, and Defend Earth. You can support the entire fund, or designate a core enterprise of your choice.\n  [Give Today](https:\/\/connect.planetary.org\/35?s_src=menudonate)\n\n[Back To Main Menu]()\n\n- ### About Us\n  - [Overview](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/about)\n  - [Strategic Framework](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/about\/strategic-framework)\n  - [News & Press](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/press-room)\n  - [Careers](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/careers)\n  - [Contact Us](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/about\/contact)\n  - [Our Story](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/about\/our-story)\n- ### The Planetary Society\n  ![The Planetary Society founders](https:\/\/planetary.s3.amazonaws.com\/sites\/planetary\/images\/menu-tps-founders.jpg)\n  #### Our Vision\n  Know the Cosmos and our place within it.\n  #### Our Mission\n  Empowering the world's citizens to advance space science and exploration.\n\n[Back To Main Menu]()\n\n- ### Membership\n  - [Become A Member](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/membership)\n  - [Renew Membership](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/renew-membership)\n  - [Gift Membership](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/gift-membership)\n  - [Kids Membership](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/planetary-academy)\n  - [Other Ways to Give](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/giving)\n  - [Contact Us](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/about\/contact)\n\n- [Our Work]()\n- [Explore Space]()\n- [Take Action]()\n- [About]()\n- [Membership]()\n- [Member Community](https:\/\/community.planetary.org\/)\n- [Account Center](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/accountcenter)\n- [Search]()\n\n- “Exploration is in our nature.” - Carl Sagan\n\n# Saturn, planet of rings, moons and more to explore\n> ## Highlights\n> - Saturn is the second-largest planet, boasting a stunning set of rings that can be seen in backyard telescopes.\n> - Its complex, planet-like moons make Saturn a solar system unto itself.\n> - NASA's Dragonfly mission, which is expected to launch in June 2027, will explore Saturn's largest moon, Titan.\n\n## Why we study Saturn\nThe real *Lord of the Rings* is Saturn, a massive outer planet boasting a set of rings about 27 [Earths](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/worlds\/earth) wide. Being a gas giant like [Jupiter](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/worlds\/jupiter), Saturn shares many of its attributes: a strong magnetic field generated by churning metallic hydrogen deep inside, raging storms in its gaseous upper atmosphere, and a diversity of [planet-like moons](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/worlds\/what-is-a-planet) that are worlds unto themselves. Saturn’s rings and larger moons are visible even from small backyard telescopes.\n\nSaturn was born roughly 4.5 billion years ago in the Solar System’s early days. Both Saturn and Jupiter probably formed closer or farther from the Sun than they are today, then migrated to their current positions later. Their gravitational influence likely flung asteroids and comets all over the Solar System, some of which slammed into early Earth and may have delivered water here.\n\nWe know of [more than 5,000 exoplanets](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/worlds\/exoplanets) — worlds orbiting beyond the Solar System — and the statistics show that most stars have planets. Many are Jupiter and Saturn-like worlds close to their stars. One exoplanet we’ve found appears to have [rings 200 times wider than Saturn’s](https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/gigantic-ring-system-around-j1407b\/). What we learn about Saturn helps us understand similar exoplanets, and vice versa.\n\n## What are Saturn's rings like up close?\nSaturn’s rings are mostly made of water ice, ranging from the size of a speck of dust, to a house, to a mountain. The largest chunks, known as moonlets, have enough gravity to clear small gaps, [distort](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-images\/saturn\/pan-and-daphnis-make-waves-in-the-rings) the rings’ shape, and cause [wave-like disturbances](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-images\/saturn\/daphnis-making-waves-in-saturn-rings).\n\n## Where did Saturn's rings come from?\nScientists think [Saturn’s rings](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/articles\/best-pictures-saturn-rings) formed when a large moon got too close to Saturn and was ripped apart due to intense gravitational forces — or. that the rings are leftover material from when Saturn formed. The rings are gradually being pulled into Saturn and will [disappear completely within 300 million years](https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S0019103518302999?via%3Dihub). The other giant planets — Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune — each have their own ring systems, though none rival the grandeur of Saturn's.\n\nLike our other three outer planets, Saturn is a solar system unto itself, with many compelling targets to study.\n\n## Saturn’s moons\nIn addition to boasting an impressive ring system, Saturn has [at least 124 moons](https:\/\/coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu\/ask\/119-How-many-moons-does-Saturn-have-), the largest of which are [active, planet-like worlds](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/worlds\/what-is-a-planet).\n\n### Titan\nLarger than Mercury, [Titan](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/worlds\/titan) has an orange, hazy atmosphere that may be similar to what Earth’s was like before life arose here around 3.5 billion years ago. Complex, organic molecules — one of the building blocks for life as we know it — form Titan’s atmosphere and rain from the skies. By studying Titan, we can learn more about potentially habitable environments for life throughout the Universe.\n\nThe surface of Titan is strikingly similar to Earth, with some key differences: Titan has [mountains](https:\/\/solarsystem.nasa.gov\/resources\/15093\/mountains-on-the-northwest-border-of-xanadu-titan\/) and dunes made of mostly ice rather than rock, and [rivers](https:\/\/photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov\/catalog\/PIA10219), [lakes and seas](https:\/\/photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov\/catalog\/PIA17031) filled with methane and ethane instead of liquid water. [A liquid-water ocean probably exists beneath the surface](https:\/\/sci.esa.int\/web\/cassini-huygens\/-\/55230-science-highlights-from-huygens-9-schumann-like-resonances-hints-of-a-subsurface-ocean), though we don’t know if the chemical mix is conducive to life, or if there’s an energy source to power life, like the [hydrothermal vents in Earth’s oceans](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-images\/hydrothermal-vents-on-ocean).\n\n[![Titan with clouds over south pole](data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%27http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%27%20width=%271200%27%20height=%271200%27%20style=%27background:%23CCC%27%20\/%3E)](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/worlds\/titan)\n\n### [Titan, a moon with familiar vistas](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/worlds\/titan)\nSaturn's largest moon, Titan, is both the only other place in the Solar System with liquid on its surface and the only moon with a thick atmosphere, making it a tantalizing destination to search for life.\n\n### Enceladus\nAt just 500 kilometers (310 miles) wide, [Enceladus](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/worlds\/enceladus) could fit comfortably inside the U.S. state of Arizona. But this moon has a big secret under its icy crust: a saltwater ocean, which leaks into space via geysers on the surface to form one of Saturn’s outer rings. We know the ocean contains complex organic materials. [Could it also contain life](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/articles\/signs-of-life-enceladus)?\n\n[![Enceladus in view](data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%27http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%27%20width=%271200%27%20height=%271200%27%20style=%27background:%23CCC%27%20\/%3E)](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/worlds\/enceladus)\n\n### [Enceladus, Saturn’s moon with a hidden ocean](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/worlds\/enceladus)\nWith its subsurface ocean and so-called \"tiger stripes,\" Enceladus is one of Saturn's most fascinating moons.\n\n### Mimas\nMimas boasts a massive crater that makes it eerily similar to the Death Star from *Star Wars*. It too may have a subsurface ocean, though material from the ocean does not appear to leak up to the surface.\n\n### The photogenic oddballs\nSome of Saturn’s smaller moons are among the most photogenic in our solar system. [Dione](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-images\/saturn?imgkeywords=dione) and [Rhea](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-images?imgkeywords=rhea) are cratered snowball worlds with rocky cores. [Hyperion](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/articles\/2971) looks like a giant sponge or coral reef. [Iapetus](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-images?imgkeywords=iapetus) is two-faced, with an icy half and a dark half coated with material coming from the comet-like moon Phoebe. And then there’s [Pan](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-images\/pan-northern-hemisphere-imaged-by-cassini), a moon whose gravity has grabbed enough material from Saturn’s rings to make it look like a flying saucer or dumpling, depending on who you ask.\n\n[![Saturn's largest moons, to scale](data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%27http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%27%20width=%271200%27%20height=%27528%27%20style=%27background:%23CCC%27%20\/%3E)](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-images\/saturns-largest-moons-to-scale)\n\nSaturn's largest moons, to scale This montage shows Saturn's largest moons to scale using data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The images are part of a [larger collage that can be found here](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-images\/the-solar-systems-major-moons).*Image: NASA \/ JPL-Caltech \/ Montage by Emily Lakdawalla \/ Processing by Processing by Ted Stryk, Gordan Ugarkovic, Emily Lakdawalla, and Jason Perry.*\n\n> ## Saturn Facts\n> **Average temperature**: -138°C (-218°F) where atmospheric pressure equals sea level on Earth  \n> **Average distance from Sun**: 1,434 million kilometers (891 million miles), or 9.5 times farther from the Sun than Earth  \n> **Diameter**: 120,536 kilometers (74,898 miles), Saturn is 9.4 times wider than Earth  \n> **Volume**: 827 trillion km3 (198 trillion mi3), Earth could fit inside Saturn 827 times  \n> **Gravity**: 9 m\/s², or 92% that of Earth’s  \n> **Solar day**: 11 Earth hours  \n> **Solar year**: 10,759 Earth days  \n> **Atmosphere**: 96% hydrogen, 3% helium, 1% other gases\n\n## How we study Saturn\nChristiaan Huygens first glimpsed Saturn’s rings and the planet’s largest moon, Titan, through a telescope in the 1650s. Shortly thereafter, Giovanni Cassini found 4 more moons and the planet’s largest ring gap, now named the Cassini Division in his honor.\n\nNASA’s Pioneer 11 was the first spacecraft to visit Saturn, flying past the planet in 1979 and revealing yet another outer ring. Voyager 1 flew by a year later, swinging by Titan to get a good look at the moon’s thick orange atmosphere. Voyager 2 flew closer to Saturn itself, discovering the planet’s upper atmosphere was a chilly -200 degrees Celsius (-328 degrees Fahrenheit), and finding trace amounts of ammonia crystals that give Saturn its pale yellow hue.\n\nIn 2004, Cassini-Huygens, a joint robotic mission by NASA and the European Space Agency, became the first spacecraft to orbit Saturn. One of the most revolutionary space missions of all time, Cassini spent 13 Earth years — almost half a Saturn year — watching how the planet and its moons changed with the seasons as they orbited the Sun.\n\nOn Saturn itself, Cassini studied the [hexagonal storm](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-images\/saturns-north-polar-hexagon-rings-raw) at the planet’s north pole first seen by Voyager 2 in 1981, and [discovered](https:\/\/www.jpl.nasa.gov\/news\/news.php?release=2006-137) a smaller, circular vortex on the south pole. The north pole storm is remarkably symmetric and has a central eyewall akin to Earth’s hurricanes. Cassini also observed a [planet-wide megastorm](https:\/\/solarsystem.nasa.gov\/resources\/15329\/catching-its-tail\/) that appears roughly every Saturn year—30 Earth years. The spacecraft also [mapped the structure and shape](https:\/\/solarsystem.nasa.gov\/missions\/cassini\/science\/magnetosphere\/) of Saturn’s magnetic field and narrowed down [the planet’s rotation rate](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/articles\/how-long-is-a-day-on-saturn) — less than half an Earth day, even though Saturn is 9.5 Earths wide.\n\nShortly after its arrival at Saturn, Cassini released the European Huygens probe, which landed on Titan’s surface in 2005 — a first for any world in the outer Solar System. As Huygens descended, it gathered data on the [complex](https:\/\/sci.esa.int\/web\/cassini-huygens\/-\/55227-science-highlights-from-huygens-6-hazy-titan) [chemistry](https:\/\/sci.esa.int\/web\/cassini-huygens\/-\/55224-science-highlights-from-huygens-3-methane-mystery) happening in Titan’s atmosphere. Post-landing, the probe took the first-ever images from Titan’s surface and survived for 2 hours, despite frigid temperatures of about -180 degrees Celsius (-292 degrees Fahrenheit).\n\nAs it performed long, swooping orbits around Saturn, Cassini repeatedly flew by many of the planet’s moons. The spacecraft’s cloud-penetrating radar pierced Titan’s orange haze, allowing scientists to create a [global geologic surface map](https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/feature\/jpl\/the-first-global-geologic-map-of-titan-completed). Gravity measurements by Cassini and radio measurements by Huygens showed that Titan likely [harbors a large subsurface ocean](https:\/\/sci.esa.int\/web\/cassini-huygens\/-\/55230-science-highlights-from-huygens-9-schumann-like-resonances-hints-of-a-subsurface-ocean) of water. Cassini also directly imaged Enceladus spewing water from its subsurface ocean out into space. Mission operators flew the spacecraft directly through a plume, leading to the [discovery of organic materials](https:\/\/solarsystem.nasa.gov\/news\/13148\/complex-organics-bubble-up-from-ocean-world-enceladus\/) using Cassini’s onboard mass spectrometer, which determines the chemical makeup of materials passing through it.\n\nCassini performed what NASA dubbed the \"Grand Finale\" of its mission in 2017: a number of passes between Saturn and its inner rings. In these close encounters, Cassini measured the mass of the rings based on how the spacecraft was gently tugged toward them, and found them to weigh less than even the small moon Mimas, which is just 200 kilometers (124 miles) wide. Combined with the fact that the rings are bright, undarkened by constant space weathering, this hinted that they may be [less than 100 million years old](https:\/\/science.sciencemag.org\/content\/364\/6445\/eaat2965), which would be very young in geological terms. Cassini [ended its mission with an intentional plunge into Saturn](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/articles\/0915-cassini-the-dying-of-the-light) in September 2017, becoming a permanent part of the planet it was sent to study.\n\nCassini left an impressive legacy for future missions. As an all-purpose flagship spacecraft, it was designed to answer general questions about Saturn and its moons, and help us figure out questions for new missions to answer.\n\nThe next — and at the moment, only — spacecraft heading to the Saturn system is [Dragonfly](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-missions\/dragonfly). Dragonfly is a NASA mission to Titan scheduled to launch in June 2027. The spacecraft is an eight-bladed drone-like craft called a quadcopter that will make short flights around the surface.\n\nDragonfly will study the chemicals that rain from Titan’s atmosphere onto the surface. Because we think Titan’s atmosphere is similar to Earth’s when life arose around 3.5 billion years ago, the mission will help us understand possible environments for life here and elsewhere.\n\nLife as we know it needs three things: an energy source like sunlight, a liquid solvent like water, and complex, organic molecules that bond with one another. Titan has the organic molecules, but it’s very cold, and hosts liquid methane and ethane on its surface instead of water. Dragonfly will, in a sense, be studying an alternate version of Earth. It will see how Titan relates to life as we know it — and to theoretical forms of life unlike anything we’ve ever imagined.\n\n[![Cassini makes the plunge](data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%27http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%27%20width=%271200%27%20height=%27675%27%20style=%27background:%23CCC%27%20\/%3E)](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-images\/cassini-makes-the-plunge)\n\nCassini makes the plunge NASA's Cassini spacecraft plunges toward the gap between Saturn and its rings.\n\n> ## Learn more\n> - [The best pictures of Saturn's rings](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/articles\/best-pictures-saturn-rings)\n> - [Every mission to Saturn ever](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-missions\/every-saturn-mission)\n> - [How long is a day on Saturn?](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/articles\/how-long-is-a-day-on-saturn)\n\n[![Bill Nye and Planetary Society members at the Day of Action 2023](data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%27http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%27%20width=%271200%27%20height=%271200%27%20style=%27background:%23CCC%27%20\/%3E)](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/action-center)\n\n### [Action Center](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/action-center)\nWhether it's advocating, teaching, inspiring, or learning, you can do something for space, right now. Let's get to work.\n\n**Acknowledgements**: This page was initially written by [Jatan Mehta](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/connect\/our-experts\/profiles\/jatan-mehta.html) in 2020.\n\n### Become A Member\nWhen you become a member, you join our mission to increase discoveries in our Solar System and beyond, elevate the search for life outside our planet, and decrease the risk of Earth being hit by an asteroid.\n\nYour role in space exploration starts now.\n\n[\\$4\/month](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/membership?level=Explorer&s_src=cardjoin)\n\n[\\$10\/month](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/membership?level=Mariner&s_src=cardjoin)\n\n[\\$20\/month](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/membership?level=Pathfinder&s_src=cardjoin)\n\n[\\$40\/month](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/membership?level=Visionary&s_src=cardjoin)\n\n### Get More Space  In Your Inbox\nSign up for updates, weekly tools, and exclusive opportunities to support space exploration.\n\nYou are here: [Home](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/) \\> [Saturn, planet of rings, moons and more to explore](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/worlds\/saturn)\n\n[![X icon](https:\/\/planetary.s3.amazonaws.com\/sites\/planetary\/images\/x-logo.svg)](https:\/\/x.com\/intent\/tweet?text=Saturn,%20planet%20of%20rings,%20moons%20and%20more%20to%20explore&url=https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/worlds\/saturn&via=exploreplanets)\n\n- Explore Space\n- [Planets & Other Worlds](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/worlds)\n- [Space Missions](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-missions)\n- [Night Sky](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/night-sky)\n- [Space Policy](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-policy)\n- [For Kids](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/kids)\n\n- Learn\n- [Articles](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/articles)\n- [Planetary Radio](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/planetary-radio)\n- [Space Images](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-images)\n- [Videos](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/video)\n- [Courses](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/courses)\n- [The Planetary Report](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/planetary-report)\n\n- Get Involved\n- [Action Center](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/action-center)\n- [Email Signup](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/connect)\n- [Become A Member](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/membership)\n- [Contact](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/about\/contact)\n\n- Give\n- [Renew Membership](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/membership)\n- [Support A Project](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/donate)\n- [Shop to Support](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/shop)\n- [Travel](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/travel)\n- [Other Ways to Give](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/giving)\n\n[![The Planetary Society logo](https:\/\/planetary.s3.amazonaws.com\/sites\/planetary\/images\/TPS_Logo_3Stack-White.svg)](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/)\n\nEmpowering the world's citizens to advance space science and exploration.\n\n- [![X icon](https:\/\/planetary.s3.amazonaws.com\/sites\/planetary\/images\/x-logo.svg)](https:\/\/x.com\/exploreplanets)\n\n[Account Center](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/accountcenter) • [Contact Us](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/about\/contact) • [Privacy Policy](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/privacy-policy)\n\n[![Charity Navigator four stars](https:\/\/planetary.s3.amazonaws.com\/sites\/planetary\/images\/charity-navigator-4star.png)](https:\/\/www.charitynavigator.org\/ein\/953423566)[![Guidestar logo](https:\/\/planetary.s3.amazonaws.com\/sites\/planetary\/images\/guidestar.png)](https:\/\/www.guidestar.org\/profile\/95-3423566)\n\nGive with confidence. The Planetary Society is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.\n\n© 2026 The Planetary Society. All rights reserved.  \n[Cookie Declaration](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/cookie-declaration)\n\nFor full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript. Here are  [instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your web browser](https:\/\/www.enable-javascript.com\/).","attrs_readable_markdown":"> ## Highlights\n> - Saturn is the second-largest planet, boasting a stunning set of rings that can be seen in backyard telescopes.\n> - Its complex, planet-like moons make Saturn a solar system unto itself.\n> - NASA's Dragonfly mission, which is expected to launch in June 2027, will explore Saturn's largest moon, Titan.\n\n## Why we study Saturn\nThe real *Lord of the Rings* is Saturn, a massive outer planet boasting a set of rings about 27 [Earths](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/worlds\/earth) wide. Being a gas giant like [Jupiter](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/worlds\/jupiter), Saturn shares many of its attributes: a strong magnetic field generated by churning metallic hydrogen deep inside, raging storms in its gaseous upper atmosphere, and a diversity of [planet-like moons](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/worlds\/what-is-a-planet) that are worlds unto themselves. Saturn’s rings and larger moons are visible even from small backyard telescopes.\n\nSaturn was born roughly 4.5 billion years ago in the Solar System’s early days. Both Saturn and Jupiter probably formed closer or farther from the Sun than they are today, then migrated to their current positions later. Their gravitational influence likely flung asteroids and comets all over the Solar System, some of which slammed into early Earth and may have delivered water here.\n\nWe know of [more than 5,000 exoplanets](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/worlds\/exoplanets) — worlds orbiting beyond the Solar System — and the statistics show that most stars have planets. Many are Jupiter and Saturn-like worlds close to their stars. One exoplanet we’ve found appears to have [rings 200 times wider than Saturn’s](https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/gigantic-ring-system-around-j1407b\/). What we learn about Saturn helps us understand similar exoplanets, and vice versa.\n\n## What are Saturn's rings like up close?\nSaturn’s rings are mostly made of water ice, ranging from the size of a speck of dust, to a house, to a mountain. The largest chunks, known as moonlets, have enough gravity to clear small gaps, [distort](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-images\/saturn\/pan-and-daphnis-make-waves-in-the-rings) the rings’ shape, and cause [wave-like disturbances](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-images\/saturn\/daphnis-making-waves-in-saturn-rings).\n\n## Where did Saturn's rings come from?\nScientists think [Saturn’s rings](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/articles\/best-pictures-saturn-rings) formed when a large moon got too close to Saturn and was ripped apart due to intense gravitational forces — or. that the rings are leftover material from when Saturn formed. The rings are gradually being pulled into Saturn and will [disappear completely within 300 million years](https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S0019103518302999?via%3Dihub). The other giant planets — Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune — each have their own ring systems, though none rival the grandeur of Saturn's.\n\nLike our other three outer planets, Saturn is a solar system unto itself, with many compelling targets to study.\n\n## Saturn’s moons\nIn addition to boasting an impressive ring system, Saturn has [at least 124 moons](https:\/\/coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu\/ask\/119-How-many-moons-does-Saturn-have-), the largest of which are [active, planet-like worlds](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/worlds\/what-is-a-planet).\n\n### Titan\nLarger than Mercury, [Titan](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/worlds\/titan) has an orange, hazy atmosphere that may be similar to what Earth’s was like before life arose here around 3.5 billion years ago. Complex, organic molecules — one of the building blocks for life as we know it — form Titan’s atmosphere and rain from the skies. By studying Titan, we can learn more about potentially habitable environments for life throughout the Universe.\n\nThe surface of Titan is strikingly similar to Earth, with some key differences: Titan has [mountains](https:\/\/solarsystem.nasa.gov\/resources\/15093\/mountains-on-the-northwest-border-of-xanadu-titan\/) and dunes made of mostly ice rather than rock, and [rivers](https:\/\/photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov\/catalog\/PIA10219), [lakes and seas](https:\/\/photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov\/catalog\/PIA17031) filled with methane and ethane instead of liquid water. [A liquid-water ocean probably exists beneath the surface](https:\/\/sci.esa.int\/web\/cassini-huygens\/-\/55230-science-highlights-from-huygens-9-schumann-like-resonances-hints-of-a-subsurface-ocean), though we don’t know if the chemical mix is conducive to life, or if there’s an energy source to power life, like the [hydrothermal vents in Earth’s oceans](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-images\/hydrothermal-vents-on-ocean).\n\n### [Titan, a moon with familiar vistas](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/worlds\/titan)\nSaturn's largest moon, Titan, is both the only other place in the Solar System with liquid on its surface and the only moon with a thick atmosphere, making it a tantalizing destination to search for life.\n\n### Enceladus\nAt just 500 kilometers (310 miles) wide, [Enceladus](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/worlds\/enceladus) could fit comfortably inside the U.S. state of Arizona. But this moon has a big secret under its icy crust: a saltwater ocean, which leaks into space via geysers on the surface to form one of Saturn’s outer rings. We know the ocean contains complex organic materials. [Could it also contain life](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/articles\/signs-of-life-enceladus)?\n\n### Mimas\nMimas boasts a massive crater that makes it eerily similar to the Death Star from *Star Wars*. It too may have a subsurface ocean, though material from the ocean does not appear to leak up to the surface.\n\n### The photogenic oddballs\nSome of Saturn’s smaller moons are among the most photogenic in our solar system. [Dione](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-images\/saturn?imgkeywords=dione) and [Rhea](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-images?imgkeywords=rhea) are cratered snowball worlds with rocky cores. [Hyperion](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/articles\/2971) looks like a giant sponge or coral reef. [Iapetus](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-images?imgkeywords=iapetus) is two-faced, with an icy half and a dark half coated with material coming from the comet-like moon Phoebe. And then there’s [Pan](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-images\/pan-northern-hemisphere-imaged-by-cassini), a moon whose gravity has grabbed enough material from Saturn’s rings to make it look like a flying saucer or dumpling, depending on who you ask.\n\n[![Saturn's largest moons, to scale](data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%27http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%27%20width=%271200%27%20height=%27528%27%20style=%27background:%23CCC%27%20\/%3E)](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-images\/saturns-largest-moons-to-scale)\n\nSaturn's largest moons, to scale This montage shows Saturn's largest moons to scale using data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The images are part of a [larger collage that can be found here](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-images\/the-solar-systems-major-moons).*Image: NASA \/ JPL-Caltech \/ Montage by Emily Lakdawalla \/ Processing by Processing by Ted Stryk, Gordan Ugarkovic, Emily Lakdawalla, and Jason Perry.*\n\n> ## Saturn Facts\n> **Average temperature**: -138°C (-218°F) where atmospheric pressure equals sea level on Earth  \n> **Average distance from Sun**: 1,434 million kilometers (891 million miles), or 9.5 times farther from the Sun than Earth  \n> **Diameter**: 120,536 kilometers (74,898 miles), Saturn is 9.4 times wider than Earth  \n> **Volume**: 827 trillion km3 (198 trillion mi3), Earth could fit inside Saturn 827 times  \n> **Gravity**: 9 m\/s², or 92% that of Earth’s  \n> **Solar day**: 11 Earth hours  \n> **Solar year**: 10,759 Earth days  \n> **Atmosphere**: 96% hydrogen, 3% helium, 1% other gases\n\n## How we study Saturn\nChristiaan Huygens first glimpsed Saturn’s rings and the planet’s largest moon, Titan, through a telescope in the 1650s. Shortly thereafter, Giovanni Cassini found 4 more moons and the planet’s largest ring gap, now named the Cassini Division in his honor.\n\nNASA’s Pioneer 11 was the first spacecraft to visit Saturn, flying past the planet in 1979 and revealing yet another outer ring. Voyager 1 flew by a year later, swinging by Titan to get a good look at the moon’s thick orange atmosphere. Voyager 2 flew closer to Saturn itself, discovering the planet’s upper atmosphere was a chilly -200 degrees Celsius (-328 degrees Fahrenheit), and finding trace amounts of ammonia crystals that give Saturn its pale yellow hue.\n\nIn 2004, Cassini-Huygens, a joint robotic mission by NASA and the European Space Agency, became the first spacecraft to orbit Saturn. One of the most revolutionary space missions of all time, Cassini spent 13 Earth years — almost half a Saturn year — watching how the planet and its moons changed with the seasons as they orbited the Sun.\n\nOn Saturn itself, Cassini studied the [hexagonal storm](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-images\/saturns-north-polar-hexagon-rings-raw) at the planet’s north pole first seen by Voyager 2 in 1981, and [discovered](https:\/\/www.jpl.nasa.gov\/news\/news.php?release=2006-137) a smaller, circular vortex on the south pole. The north pole storm is remarkably symmetric and has a central eyewall akin to Earth’s hurricanes. Cassini also observed a [planet-wide megastorm](https:\/\/solarsystem.nasa.gov\/resources\/15329\/catching-its-tail\/) that appears roughly every Saturn year—30 Earth years. The spacecraft also [mapped the structure and shape](https:\/\/solarsystem.nasa.gov\/missions\/cassini\/science\/magnetosphere\/) of Saturn’s magnetic field and narrowed down [the planet’s rotation rate](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/articles\/how-long-is-a-day-on-saturn) — less than half an Earth day, even though Saturn is 9.5 Earths wide.\n\nShortly after its arrival at Saturn, Cassini released the European Huygens probe, which landed on Titan’s surface in 2005 — a first for any world in the outer Solar System. As Huygens descended, it gathered data on the [complex](https:\/\/sci.esa.int\/web\/cassini-huygens\/-\/55227-science-highlights-from-huygens-6-hazy-titan) [chemistry](https:\/\/sci.esa.int\/web\/cassini-huygens\/-\/55224-science-highlights-from-huygens-3-methane-mystery) happening in Titan’s atmosphere. Post-landing, the probe took the first-ever images from Titan’s surface and survived for 2 hours, despite frigid temperatures of about -180 degrees Celsius (-292 degrees Fahrenheit).\n\nAs it performed long, swooping orbits around Saturn, Cassini repeatedly flew by many of the planet’s moons. The spacecraft’s cloud-penetrating radar pierced Titan’s orange haze, allowing scientists to create a [global geologic surface map](https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/feature\/jpl\/the-first-global-geologic-map-of-titan-completed). Gravity measurements by Cassini and radio measurements by Huygens showed that Titan likely [harbors a large subsurface ocean](https:\/\/sci.esa.int\/web\/cassini-huygens\/-\/55230-science-highlights-from-huygens-9-schumann-like-resonances-hints-of-a-subsurface-ocean) of water. Cassini also directly imaged Enceladus spewing water from its subsurface ocean out into space. Mission operators flew the spacecraft directly through a plume, leading to the [discovery of organic materials](https:\/\/solarsystem.nasa.gov\/news\/13148\/complex-organics-bubble-up-from-ocean-world-enceladus\/) using Cassini’s onboard mass spectrometer, which determines the chemical makeup of materials passing through it.\n\nCassini performed what NASA dubbed the \"Grand Finale\" of its mission in 2017: a number of passes between Saturn and its inner rings. In these close encounters, Cassini measured the mass of the rings based on how the spacecraft was gently tugged toward them, and found them to weigh less than even the small moon Mimas, which is just 200 kilometers (124 miles) wide. Combined with the fact that the rings are bright, undarkened by constant space weathering, this hinted that they may be [less than 100 million years old](https:\/\/science.sciencemag.org\/content\/364\/6445\/eaat2965), which would be very young in geological terms. Cassini [ended its mission with an intentional plunge into Saturn](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/articles\/0915-cassini-the-dying-of-the-light) in September 2017, becoming a permanent part of the planet it was sent to study.\n\nCassini left an impressive legacy for future missions. As an all-purpose flagship spacecraft, it was designed to answer general questions about Saturn and its moons, and help us figure out questions for new missions to answer.\n\nThe next — and at the moment, only — spacecraft heading to the Saturn system is [Dragonfly](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-missions\/dragonfly). Dragonfly is a NASA mission to Titan scheduled to launch in June 2027. The spacecraft is an eight-bladed drone-like craft called a quadcopter that will make short flights around the surface.\n\nDragonfly will study the chemicals that rain from Titan’s atmosphere onto the surface. Because we think Titan’s atmosphere is similar to Earth’s when life arose around 3.5 billion years ago, the mission will help us understand possible environments for life here and elsewhere.\n\nLife as we know it needs three things: an energy source like sunlight, a liquid solvent like water, and complex, organic molecules that bond with one another. Titan has the organic molecules, but it’s very cold, and hosts liquid methane and ethane on its surface instead of water. Dragonfly will, in a sense, be studying an alternate version of Earth. It will see how Titan relates to life as we know it — and to theoretical forms of life unlike anything we’ve ever imagined.\n\n[![Cassini makes the plunge](data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%27http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%27%20width=%271200%27%20height=%27675%27%20style=%27background:%23CCC%27%20\/%3E)](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-images\/cassini-makes-the-plunge)\n\nCassini makes the plunge NASA's Cassini spacecraft plunges toward the gap between Saturn and its rings.\n\n> ## Learn more\n> - [The best pictures of Saturn's rings](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/articles\/best-pictures-saturn-rings)\n> - [Every mission to Saturn ever](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/space-missions\/every-saturn-mission)\n> - [How long is a day on Saturn?](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/articles\/how-long-is-a-day-on-saturn)\n\n### [Action Center](https:\/\/www.planetary.org\/action-center)\nWhether it's advocating, teaching, inspiring, or learning, you can do something for space, right now. 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Boilerpipe Text	Highlights Saturn is the second-largest planet, boasting a stunning set of rings that can be seen in backyard telescopes. Its complex, planet-like moons make Saturn a solar system unto itself. NASA's Dragonfly mission, which is expected to launch in June 2027, will explore Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Why we study Saturn The real Lord of the Rings is Saturn, a massive outer planet boasting a set of rings about 27 Earths wide. Being a gas giant like Jupiter , Saturn shares many of its attributes: a strong magnetic field generated by churning metallic hydrogen deep inside, raging storms in its gaseous upper atmosphere, and a diversity of planet-like moons that are worlds unto themselves. Saturn’s rings and larger moons are visible even from small backyard telescopes. Saturn was born roughly 4.5 billion years ago in the Solar System’s early days. Both Saturn and Jupiter probably formed closer or farther from the Sun than they are today, then migrated to their current positions later. Their gravitational influence likely flung asteroids and comets all over the Solar System, some of which slammed into early Earth and may have delivered water here. We know of more than 5,000 exoplanets — worlds orbiting beyond the Solar System — and the statistics show that most stars have planets. Many are Jupiter and Saturn-like worlds close to their stars. One exoplanet we’ve found appears to have rings 200 times wider than Saturn’s . What we learn about Saturn helps us understand similar exoplanets, and vice versa. What are Saturn's rings like up close? Saturn’s rings are mostly made of water ice, ranging from the size of a speck of dust, to a house, to a mountain. The largest chunks, known as moonlets, have enough gravity to clear small gaps, distort the rings’ shape, and cause wave-like disturbances . Where did Saturn's rings come from? Scientists think Saturn’s rings formed when a large moon got too close to Saturn and was ripped apart due to intense gravitational forces — or. that the rings are leftover material from when Saturn formed. The rings are gradually being pulled into Saturn and will disappear completely within 300 million years . The other giant planets — Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune — each have their own ring systems, though none rival the grandeur of Saturn's. Like our other three outer planets, Saturn is a solar system unto itself, with many compelling targets to study. Saturn’s moons In addition to boasting an impressive ring system, Saturn has at least 124 moons , the largest of which are active, planet-like worlds . Titan Larger than Mercury, Titan has an orange, hazy atmosphere that may be similar to what Earth’s was like before life arose here around 3.5 billion years ago. Complex, organic molecules — one of the building blocks for life as we know it — form Titan’s atmosphere and rain from the skies. By studying Titan, we can learn more about potentially habitable environments for life throughout the Universe. The surface of Titan is strikingly similar to Earth, with some key differences: Titan has mountains and dunes made of mostly ice rather than rock, and rivers , lakes and seas filled with methane and ethane instead of liquid water. A liquid-water ocean probably exists beneath the surface , though we don’t know if the chemical mix is conducive to life, or if there’s an energy source to power life, like the hydrothermal vents in Earth’s oceans . Titan, a moon with familiar vistas Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is both the only other place in the Solar System with liquid on its surface and the only moon with a thick atmosphere, making it a tantalizing destination to search for life. Enceladus At just 500 kilometers (310 miles) wide, Enceladus could fit comfortably inside the U.S. state of Arizona. But this moon has a big secret under its icy crust: a saltwater ocean, which leaks into space via geysers on the surface to form one of Saturn’s outer rings. We know the ocean contains complex organic materials. Could it also contain life ? Mimas Mimas boasts a massive crater that makes it eerily similar to the Death Star from Star Wars . It too may have a subsurface ocean, though material from the ocean does not appear to leak up to the surface. The photogenic oddballs Some of Saturn’s smaller moons are among the most photogenic in our solar system. Dione and Rhea are cratered snowball worlds with rocky cores. Hyperion looks like a giant sponge or coral reef. Iapetus is two-faced, with an icy half and a dark half coated with material coming from the comet-like moon Phoebe. And then there’s Pan , a moon whose gravity has grabbed enough material from Saturn’s rings to make it look like a flying saucer or dumpling, depending on who you ask. Saturn's largest moons, to scale This montage shows Saturn's largest moons to scale using data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The images are part of a larger collage that can be found here . Image: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Montage by Emily Lakdawalla / Processing by Processing by Ted Stryk, Gordan Ugarkovic, Emily Lakdawalla, and Jason Perry. Saturn Facts Average temperature : -138°C (-218°F) where atmospheric pressure equals sea level on Earth Average distance from Sun : 1,434 million kilometers (891 million miles), or 9.5 times farther from the Sun than Earth Diameter : 120,536 kilometers (74,898 miles), Saturn is 9.4 times wider than Earth Volume : 827 trillion km3 (198 trillion mi3), Earth could fit inside Saturn 827 times Gravity : 9 m/s², or 92% that of Earth’s Solar day : 11 Earth hours Solar year : 10,759 Earth days Atmosphere : 96% hydrogen, 3% helium, 1% other gases How we study Saturn Christiaan Huygens first glimpsed Saturn’s rings and the planet’s largest moon, Titan, through a telescope in the 1650s. Shortly thereafter, Giovanni Cassini found 4 more moons and the planet’s largest ring gap, now named the Cassini Division in his honor. NASA’s Pioneer 11 was the first spacecraft to visit Saturn, flying past the planet in 1979 and revealing yet another outer ring. Voyager 1 flew by a year later, swinging by Titan to get a good look at the moon’s thick orange atmosphere. Voyager 2 flew closer to Saturn itself, discovering the planet’s upper atmosphere was a chilly -200 degrees Celsius (-328 degrees Fahrenheit), and finding trace amounts of ammonia crystals that give Saturn its pale yellow hue. In 2004, Cassini-Huygens, a joint robotic mission by NASA and the European Space Agency, became the first spacecraft to orbit Saturn. One of the most revolutionary space missions of all time, Cassini spent 13 Earth years — almost half a Saturn year — watching how the planet and its moons changed with the seasons as they orbited the Sun. On Saturn itself, Cassini studied the hexagonal storm at the planet’s north pole first seen by Voyager 2 in 1981, and discovered a smaller, circular vortex on the south pole. The north pole storm is remarkably symmetric and has a central eyewall akin to Earth’s hurricanes. Cassini also observed a planet-wide megastorm that appears roughly every Saturn year—30 Earth years. The spacecraft also mapped the structure and shape of Saturn’s magnetic field and narrowed down the planet’s rotation rate — less than half an Earth day, even though Saturn is 9.5 Earths wide. Shortly after its arrival at Saturn, Cassini released the European Huygens probe, which landed on Titan’s surface in 2005 — a first for any world in the outer Solar System. As Huygens descended, it gathered data on the complex chemistry happening in Titan’s atmosphere. Post-landing, the probe took the first-ever images from Titan’s surface and survived for 2 hours, despite frigid temperatures of about -180 degrees Celsius (-292 degrees Fahrenheit). As it performed long, swooping orbits around Saturn, Cassini repeatedly flew by many of the planet’s moons. The spacecraft’s cloud-penetrating radar pierced Titan’s orange haze, allowing scientists to create a global geologic surface map . Gravity measurements by Cassini and radio measurements by Huygens showed that Titan likely harbors a large subsurface ocean of water. Cassini also directly imaged Enceladus spewing water from its subsurface ocean out into space. Mission operators flew the spacecraft directly through a plume, leading to the discovery of organic materials using Cassini’s onboard mass spectrometer, which determines the chemical makeup of materials passing through it. Cassini performed what NASA dubbed the "Grand Finale" of its mission in 2017: a number of passes between Saturn and its inner rings. In these close encounters, Cassini measured the mass of the rings based on how the spacecraft was gently tugged toward them, and found them to weigh less than even the small moon Mimas, which is just 200 kilometers (124 miles) wide. Combined with the fact that the rings are bright, undarkened by constant space weathering, this hinted that they may be less than 100 million years old , which would be very young in geological terms. Cassini ended its mission with an intentional plunge into Saturn in September 2017, becoming a permanent part of the planet it was sent to study. Cassini left an impressive legacy for future missions. As an all-purpose flagship spacecraft, it was designed to answer general questions about Saturn and its moons, and help us figure out questions for new missions to answer. The next — and at the moment, only — spacecraft heading to the Saturn system is Dragonfly . Dragonfly is a NASA mission to Titan scheduled to launch in June 2027. The spacecraft is an eight-bladed drone-like craft called a quadcopter that will make short flights around the surface. Dragonfly will study the chemicals that rain from Titan’s atmosphere onto the surface. Because we think Titan’s atmosphere is similar to Earth’s when life arose around 3.5 billion years ago, the mission will help us understand possible environments for life here and elsewhere. Life as we know it needs three things: an energy source like sunlight, a liquid solvent like water, and complex, organic molecules that bond with one another. Titan has the organic molecules, but it’s very cold, and hosts liquid methane and ethane on its surface instead of water. Dragonfly will, in a sense, be studying an alternate version of Earth. It will see how Titan relates to life as we know it — and to theoretical forms of life unlike anything we’ve ever imagined. Cassini makes the plunge NASA's Cassini spacecraft plunges toward the gap between Saturn and its rings. Learn more The best pictures of Saturn's rings Every mission to Saturn ever How long is a day on Saturn? Action Center Whether it's advocating, teaching, inspiring, or learning, you can do something for space, right now. Let's get to work. Acknowledgements : This page was initially written by Jatan Mehta in 2020. Empowering the world's citizens to advance space science and exploration. Account Center • Contact Us • Privacy Policy Give with confidence. The Planetary Society is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. © 2026 The Planetary Society. All rights reserved. Cookie Declaration
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[Back To Main Menu]() - ### Membership - [Become A Member](https://www.planetary.org/membership) - [Renew Membership](https://www.planetary.org/renew-membership) - [Gift Membership](https://www.planetary.org/gift-membership) - [Kids Membership](https://www.planetary.org/planetary-academy) - [Other Ways to Give](https://www.planetary.org/giving) - [Contact Us](https://www.planetary.org/about/contact) - [Our Work]() - [Explore Space]() - [Take Action]() - [About]() - [Membership]() - [Member Community](https://community.planetary.org/) - [Account Center](https://www.planetary.org/accountcenter) - [Search]() - “Exploration is in our nature.” - Carl Sagan # Saturn, planet of rings, moons and more to explore > ## Highlights > - Saturn is the second-largest planet, boasting a stunning set of rings that can be seen in backyard telescopes. > - Its complex, planet-like moons make Saturn a solar system unto itself. > - NASA's Dragonfly mission, which is expected to launch in June 2027, will explore Saturn's largest moon, Titan. ## Why we study Saturn The real Lord of the Rings is Saturn, a massive outer planet boasting a set of rings about 27 [Earths](https://www.planetary.org/worlds/earth) wide. Being a gas giant like [Jupiter](https://www.planetary.org/worlds/jupiter), Saturn shares many of its attributes: a strong magnetic field generated by churning metallic hydrogen deep inside, raging storms in its gaseous upper atmosphere, and a diversity of [planet-like moons](https://www.planetary.org/worlds/what-is-a-planet) that are worlds unto themselves. Saturn’s rings and larger moons are visible even from small backyard telescopes. Saturn was born roughly 4.5 billion years ago in the Solar System’s early days. Both Saturn and Jupiter probably formed closer or farther from the Sun than they are today, then migrated to their current positions later. Their gravitational influence likely flung asteroids and comets all over the Solar System, some of which slammed into early Earth and may have delivered water here. We know of [more than 5,000 exoplanets](https://www.planetary.org/worlds/exoplanets) — worlds orbiting beyond the Solar System — and the statistics show that most stars have planets. Many are Jupiter and Saturn-like worlds close to their stars. One exoplanet we’ve found appears to have [rings 200 times wider than Saturn’s](https://www.rochester.edu/newscenter/gigantic-ring-system-around-j1407b/). What we learn about Saturn helps us understand similar exoplanets, and vice versa. ## What are Saturn's rings like up close? Saturn’s rings are mostly made of water ice, ranging from the size of a speck of dust, to a house, to a mountain. The largest chunks, known as moonlets, have enough gravity to clear small gaps, [distort](https://www.planetary.org/space-images/saturn/pan-and-daphnis-make-waves-in-the-rings) the rings’ shape, and cause [wave-like disturbances](https://www.planetary.org/space-images/saturn/daphnis-making-waves-in-saturn-rings). ## Where did Saturn's rings come from? Scientists think [Saturn’s rings](https://www.planetary.org/articles/best-pictures-saturn-rings) formed when a large moon got too close to Saturn and was ripped apart due to intense gravitational forces — or. that the rings are leftover material from when Saturn formed. The rings are gradually being pulled into Saturn and will [disappear completely within 300 million years](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0019103518302999?via%3Dihub). The other giant planets — Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune — each have their own ring systems, though none rival the grandeur of Saturn's. Like our other three outer planets, Saturn is a solar system unto itself, with many compelling targets to study. ## Saturn’s moons In addition to boasting an impressive ring system, Saturn has [at least 124 moons](https://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/ask/119-How-many-moons-does-Saturn-have-), the largest of which are [active, planet-like worlds](https://www.planetary.org/worlds/what-is-a-planet). ### Titan Larger than Mercury, [Titan](https://www.planetary.org/worlds/titan) has an orange, hazy atmosphere that may be similar to what Earth’s was like before life arose here around 3.5 billion years ago. Complex, organic molecules — one of the building blocks for life as we know it — form Titan’s atmosphere and rain from the skies. By studying Titan, we can learn more about potentially habitable environments for life throughout the Universe. The surface of Titan is strikingly similar to Earth, with some key differences: Titan has [mountains](https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/15093/mountains-on-the-northwest-border-of-xanadu-titan/) and dunes made of mostly ice rather than rock, and [rivers](https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA10219), [lakes and seas](https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17031) filled with methane and ethane instead of liquid water. [A liquid-water ocean probably exists beneath the surface](https://sci.esa.int/web/cassini-huygens/-/55230-science-highlights-from-huygens-9-schumann-like-resonances-hints-of-a-subsurface-ocean), though we don’t know if the chemical mix is conducive to life, or if there’s an energy source to power life, like the [hydrothermal vents in Earth’s oceans](https://www.planetary.org/space-images/hydrothermal-vents-on-ocean). [![Titan with clouds over south pole](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%27http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%27%20width=%271200%27%20height=%271200%27%20style=%27background:%23CCC%27%20/%3E)](https://www.planetary.org/worlds/titan) ### [Titan, a moon with familiar vistas](https://www.planetary.org/worlds/titan) Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is both the only other place in the Solar System with liquid on its surface and the only moon with a thick atmosphere, making it a tantalizing destination to search for life. ### Enceladus At just 500 kilometers (310 miles) wide, [Enceladus](https://www.planetary.org/worlds/enceladus) could fit comfortably inside the U.S. state of Arizona. But this moon has a big secret under its icy crust: a saltwater ocean, which leaks into space via geysers on the surface to form one of Saturn’s outer rings. We know the ocean contains complex organic materials. [Could it also contain life](https://www.planetary.org/articles/signs-of-life-enceladus)? [![Enceladus in view](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%27http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%27%20width=%271200%27%20height=%271200%27%20style=%27background:%23CCC%27%20/%3E)](https://www.planetary.org/worlds/enceladus) ### [Enceladus, Saturn’s moon with a hidden ocean](https://www.planetary.org/worlds/enceladus) With its subsurface ocean and so-called "tiger stripes," Enceladus is one of Saturn's most fascinating moons. ### Mimas Mimas boasts a massive crater that makes it eerily similar to the Death Star from Star Wars. It too may have a subsurface ocean, though material from the ocean does not appear to leak up to the surface. ### The photogenic oddballs Some of Saturn’s smaller moons are among the most photogenic in our solar system. [Dione](https://www.planetary.org/space-images/saturn?imgkeywords=dione) and [Rhea](https://www.planetary.org/space-images?imgkeywords=rhea) are cratered snowball worlds with rocky cores. [Hyperion](https://www.planetary.org/articles/2971) looks like a giant sponge or coral reef. [Iapetus](https://www.planetary.org/space-images?imgkeywords=iapetus) is two-faced, with an icy half and a dark half coated with material coming from the comet-like moon Phoebe. And then there’s [Pan](https://www.planetary.org/space-images/pan-northern-hemisphere-imaged-by-cassini), a moon whose gravity has grabbed enough material from Saturn’s rings to make it look like a flying saucer or dumpling, depending on who you ask. [![Saturn's largest moons, to scale](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%27http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%27%20width=%271200%27%20height=%27528%27%20style=%27background:%23CCC%27%20/%3E)](https://www.planetary.org/space-images/saturns-largest-moons-to-scale) Saturn's largest moons, to scale This montage shows Saturn's largest moons to scale using data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The images are part of a [larger collage that can be found here](https://www.planetary.org/space-images/the-solar-systems-major-moons).Image: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Montage by Emily Lakdawalla / Processing by Processing by Ted Stryk, Gordan Ugarkovic, Emily Lakdawalla, and Jason Perry. > ## Saturn Facts > Average temperature: -138°C (-218°F) where atmospheric pressure equals sea level on Earth > Average distance from Sun: 1,434 million kilometers (891 million miles), or 9.5 times farther from the Sun than Earth > Diameter: 120,536 kilometers (74,898 miles), Saturn is 9.4 times wider than Earth > Volume: 827 trillion km3 (198 trillion mi3), Earth could fit inside Saturn 827 times > Gravity: 9 m/s², or 92% that of Earth’s > Solar day: 11 Earth hours > Solar year: 10,759 Earth days > Atmosphere: 96% hydrogen, 3% helium, 1% other gases ## How we study Saturn Christiaan Huygens first glimpsed Saturn’s rings and the planet’s largest moon, Titan, through a telescope in the 1650s. Shortly thereafter, Giovanni Cassini found 4 more moons and the planet’s largest ring gap, now named the Cassini Division in his honor. NASA’s Pioneer 11 was the first spacecraft to visit Saturn, flying past the planet in 1979 and revealing yet another outer ring. Voyager 1 flew by a year later, swinging by Titan to get a good look at the moon’s thick orange atmosphere. Voyager 2 flew closer to Saturn itself, discovering the planet’s upper atmosphere was a chilly -200 degrees Celsius (-328 degrees Fahrenheit), and finding trace amounts of ammonia crystals that give Saturn its pale yellow hue. In 2004, Cassini-Huygens, a joint robotic mission by NASA and the European Space Agency, became the first spacecraft to orbit Saturn. One of the most revolutionary space missions of all time, Cassini spent 13 Earth years — almost half a Saturn year — watching how the planet and its moons changed with the seasons as they orbited the Sun. On Saturn itself, Cassini studied the [hexagonal storm](https://www.planetary.org/space-images/saturns-north-polar-hexagon-rings-raw) at the planet’s north pole first seen by Voyager 2 in 1981, and [discovered](https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2006-137) a smaller, circular vortex on the south pole. The north pole storm is remarkably symmetric and has a central eyewall akin to Earth’s hurricanes. Cassini also observed a [planet-wide megastorm](https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/15329/catching-its-tail/) that appears roughly every Saturn year—30 Earth years. The spacecraft also [mapped the structure and shape](https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/cassini/science/magnetosphere/) of Saturn’s magnetic field and narrowed down [the planet’s rotation rate](https://www.planetary.org/articles/how-long-is-a-day-on-saturn) — less than half an Earth day, even though Saturn is 9.5 Earths wide. Shortly after its arrival at Saturn, Cassini released the European Huygens probe, which landed on Titan’s surface in 2005 — a first for any world in the outer Solar System. As Huygens descended, it gathered data on the [complex](https://sci.esa.int/web/cassini-huygens/-/55227-science-highlights-from-huygens-6-hazy-titan) [chemistry](https://sci.esa.int/web/cassini-huygens/-/55224-science-highlights-from-huygens-3-methane-mystery) happening in Titan’s atmosphere. Post-landing, the probe took the first-ever images from Titan’s surface and survived for 2 hours, despite frigid temperatures of about -180 degrees Celsius (-292 degrees Fahrenheit). As it performed long, swooping orbits around Saturn, Cassini repeatedly flew by many of the planet’s moons. The spacecraft’s cloud-penetrating radar pierced Titan’s orange haze, allowing scientists to create a [global geologic surface map](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/the-first-global-geologic-map-of-titan-completed). Gravity measurements by Cassini and radio measurements by Huygens showed that Titan likely [harbors a large subsurface ocean](https://sci.esa.int/web/cassini-huygens/-/55230-science-highlights-from-huygens-9-schumann-like-resonances-hints-of-a-subsurface-ocean) of water. Cassini also directly imaged Enceladus spewing water from its subsurface ocean out into space. Mission operators flew the spacecraft directly through a plume, leading to the [discovery of organic materials](https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/13148/complex-organics-bubble-up-from-ocean-world-enceladus/) using Cassini’s onboard mass spectrometer, which determines the chemical makeup of materials passing through it. Cassini performed what NASA dubbed the "Grand Finale" of its mission in 2017: a number of passes between Saturn and its inner rings. In these close encounters, Cassini measured the mass of the rings based on how the spacecraft was gently tugged toward them, and found them to weigh less than even the small moon Mimas, which is just 200 kilometers (124 miles) wide. Combined with the fact that the rings are bright, undarkened by constant space weathering, this hinted that they may be [less than 100 million years old](https://science.sciencemag.org/content/364/6445/eaat2965), which would be very young in geological terms. Cassini [ended its mission with an intentional plunge into Saturn](https://www.planetary.org/articles/0915-cassini-the-dying-of-the-light) in September 2017, becoming a permanent part of the planet it was sent to study. Cassini left an impressive legacy for future missions. As an all-purpose flagship spacecraft, it was designed to answer general questions about Saturn and its moons, and help us figure out questions for new missions to answer. The next — and at the moment, only — spacecraft heading to the Saturn system is [Dragonfly](https://www.planetary.org/space-missions/dragonfly). Dragonfly is a NASA mission to Titan scheduled to launch in June 2027. The spacecraft is an eight-bladed drone-like craft called a quadcopter that will make short flights around the surface. Dragonfly will study the chemicals that rain from Titan’s atmosphere onto the surface. Because we think Titan’s atmosphere is similar to Earth’s when life arose around 3.5 billion years ago, the mission will help us understand possible environments for life here and elsewhere. Life as we know it needs three things: an energy source like sunlight, a liquid solvent like water, and complex, organic molecules that bond with one another. Titan has the organic molecules, but it’s very cold, and hosts liquid methane and ethane on its surface instead of water. Dragonfly will, in a sense, be studying an alternate version of Earth. It will see how Titan relates to life as we know it — and to theoretical forms of life unlike anything we’ve ever imagined. [![Cassini makes the plunge](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%27http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%27%20width=%271200%27%20height=%27675%27%20style=%27background:%23CCC%27%20/%3E)](https://www.planetary.org/space-images/cassini-makes-the-plunge) Cassini makes the plunge NASA's Cassini spacecraft plunges toward the gap between Saturn and its rings. > ## Learn more > - [The best pictures of Saturn's rings](https://www.planetary.org/articles/best-pictures-saturn-rings) > - [Every mission to Saturn ever](https://www.planetary.org/space-missions/every-saturn-mission) > - [How long is a day on Saturn?](https://www.planetary.org/articles/how-long-is-a-day-on-saturn) [![Bill Nye and Planetary Society members at the Day of Action 2023](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%27http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%27%20width=%271200%27%20height=%271200%27%20style=%27background:%23CCC%27%20/%3E)](https://www.planetary.org/action-center) ### [Action Center](https://www.planetary.org/action-center) Whether it's advocating, teaching, inspiring, or learning, you can do something for space, right now. 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You are here: [Home](https://www.planetary.org/) \> [Saturn, planet of rings, moons and more to explore](https://www.planetary.org/worlds/saturn) [![X icon](https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/sites/planetary/images/x-logo.svg)](https://x.com/intent/tweet?text=Saturn,%20planet%20of%20rings,%20moons%20and%20more%20to%20explore&url=https://www.planetary.org/worlds/saturn&via=exploreplanets) - Explore Space - [Planets & Other Worlds](https://www.planetary.org/worlds) - [Space Missions](https://www.planetary.org/space-missions) - [Night Sky](https://www.planetary.org/night-sky) - [Space Policy](https://www.planetary.org/space-policy) - [For Kids](https://www.planetary.org/kids) - Learn - [Articles](https://www.planetary.org/articles) - [Planetary Radio](https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio) - [Space Images](https://www.planetary.org/space-images) - [Videos](https://www.planetary.org/video) - [Courses](https://www.planetary.org/courses) - [The Planetary Report](https://www.planetary.org/planetary-report) - Get Involved - [Action Center](https://www.planetary.org/action-center) - [Email Signup](https://www.planetary.org/connect) - [Become A Member](https://www.planetary.org/membership) - [Contact](https://www.planetary.org/about/contact) - Give - [Renew Membership](https://www.planetary.org/membership) - [Support A Project](https://www.planetary.org/donate) - [Shop to Support](https://www.planetary.org/shop) - [Travel](https://www.planetary.org/travel) - [Other Ways to Give](https://www.planetary.org/giving) [![The Planetary Society logo](https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/sites/planetary/images/TPS_Logo_3Stack-White.svg)](https://www.planetary.org/) Empowering the world's citizens to advance space science and exploration. - [![X icon](https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/sites/planetary/images/x-logo.svg)](https://x.com/exploreplanets) [Account Center](https://www.planetary.org/accountcenter) • [Contact Us](https://www.planetary.org/about/contact) • [Privacy Policy](https://www.planetary.org/privacy-policy) [![Charity Navigator four stars](https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/sites/planetary/images/charity-navigator-4star.png)](https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/953423566)[![Guidestar logo](https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/sites/planetary/images/guidestar.png)](https://www.guidestar.org/profile/95-3423566) Give with confidence. 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Readable Markdown	> ## Highlights > - Saturn is the second-largest planet, boasting a stunning set of rings that can be seen in backyard telescopes. > - Its complex, planet-like moons make Saturn a solar system unto itself. > - NASA's Dragonfly mission, which is expected to launch in June 2027, will explore Saturn's largest moon, Titan. ## Why we study Saturn The real Lord of the Rings is Saturn, a massive outer planet boasting a set of rings about 27 [Earths](https://www.planetary.org/worlds/earth) wide. Being a gas giant like [Jupiter](https://www.planetary.org/worlds/jupiter), Saturn shares many of its attributes: a strong magnetic field generated by churning metallic hydrogen deep inside, raging storms in its gaseous upper atmosphere, and a diversity of [planet-like moons](https://www.planetary.org/worlds/what-is-a-planet) that are worlds unto themselves. Saturn’s rings and larger moons are visible even from small backyard telescopes. Saturn was born roughly 4.5 billion years ago in the Solar System’s early days. Both Saturn and Jupiter probably formed closer or farther from the Sun than they are today, then migrated to their current positions later. Their gravitational influence likely flung asteroids and comets all over the Solar System, some of which slammed into early Earth and may have delivered water here. We know of [more than 5,000 exoplanets](https://www.planetary.org/worlds/exoplanets) — worlds orbiting beyond the Solar System — and the statistics show that most stars have planets. Many are Jupiter and Saturn-like worlds close to their stars. One exoplanet we’ve found appears to have [rings 200 times wider than Saturn’s](https://www.rochester.edu/newscenter/gigantic-ring-system-around-j1407b/). What we learn about Saturn helps us understand similar exoplanets, and vice versa. ## What are Saturn's rings like up close? Saturn’s rings are mostly made of water ice, ranging from the size of a speck of dust, to a house, to a mountain. The largest chunks, known as moonlets, have enough gravity to clear small gaps, [distort](https://www.planetary.org/space-images/saturn/pan-and-daphnis-make-waves-in-the-rings) the rings’ shape, and cause [wave-like disturbances](https://www.planetary.org/space-images/saturn/daphnis-making-waves-in-saturn-rings). ## Where did Saturn's rings come from? Scientists think [Saturn’s rings](https://www.planetary.org/articles/best-pictures-saturn-rings) formed when a large moon got too close to Saturn and was ripped apart due to intense gravitational forces — or. that the rings are leftover material from when Saturn formed. The rings are gradually being pulled into Saturn and will [disappear completely within 300 million years](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0019103518302999?via%3Dihub). The other giant planets — Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune — each have their own ring systems, though none rival the grandeur of Saturn's. Like our other three outer planets, Saturn is a solar system unto itself, with many compelling targets to study. ## Saturn’s moons In addition to boasting an impressive ring system, Saturn has [at least 124 moons](https://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/ask/119-How-many-moons-does-Saturn-have-), the largest of which are [active, planet-like worlds](https://www.planetary.org/worlds/what-is-a-planet). ### Titan Larger than Mercury, [Titan](https://www.planetary.org/worlds/titan) has an orange, hazy atmosphere that may be similar to what Earth’s was like before life arose here around 3.5 billion years ago. Complex, organic molecules — one of the building blocks for life as we know it — form Titan’s atmosphere and rain from the skies. By studying Titan, we can learn more about potentially habitable environments for life throughout the Universe. The surface of Titan is strikingly similar to Earth, with some key differences: Titan has [mountains](https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/15093/mountains-on-the-northwest-border-of-xanadu-titan/) and dunes made of mostly ice rather than rock, and [rivers](https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA10219), [lakes and seas](https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17031) filled with methane and ethane instead of liquid water. [A liquid-water ocean probably exists beneath the surface](https://sci.esa.int/web/cassini-huygens/-/55230-science-highlights-from-huygens-9-schumann-like-resonances-hints-of-a-subsurface-ocean), though we don’t know if the chemical mix is conducive to life, or if there’s an energy source to power life, like the [hydrothermal vents in Earth’s oceans](https://www.planetary.org/space-images/hydrothermal-vents-on-ocean). ### [Titan, a moon with familiar vistas](https://www.planetary.org/worlds/titan) Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is both the only other place in the Solar System with liquid on its surface and the only moon with a thick atmosphere, making it a tantalizing destination to search for life. ### Enceladus At just 500 kilometers (310 miles) wide, [Enceladus](https://www.planetary.org/worlds/enceladus) could fit comfortably inside the U.S. state of Arizona. But this moon has a big secret under its icy crust: a saltwater ocean, which leaks into space via geysers on the surface to form one of Saturn’s outer rings. We know the ocean contains complex organic materials. [Could it also contain life](https://www.planetary.org/articles/signs-of-life-enceladus)? ### Mimas Mimas boasts a massive crater that makes it eerily similar to the Death Star from Star Wars. It too may have a subsurface ocean, though material from the ocean does not appear to leak up to the surface. ### The photogenic oddballs Some of Saturn’s smaller moons are among the most photogenic in our solar system. [Dione](https://www.planetary.org/space-images/saturn?imgkeywords=dione) and [Rhea](https://www.planetary.org/space-images?imgkeywords=rhea) are cratered snowball worlds with rocky cores. [Hyperion](https://www.planetary.org/articles/2971) looks like a giant sponge or coral reef. [Iapetus](https://www.planetary.org/space-images?imgkeywords=iapetus) is two-faced, with an icy half and a dark half coated with material coming from the comet-like moon Phoebe. And then there’s [Pan](https://www.planetary.org/space-images/pan-northern-hemisphere-imaged-by-cassini), a moon whose gravity has grabbed enough material from Saturn’s rings to make it look like a flying saucer or dumpling, depending on who you ask. [![Saturn's largest moons, to scale](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%27http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%27%20width=%271200%27%20height=%27528%27%20style=%27background:%23CCC%27%20/%3E)](https://www.planetary.org/space-images/saturns-largest-moons-to-scale) Saturn's largest moons, to scale This montage shows Saturn's largest moons to scale using data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The images are part of a [larger collage that can be found here](https://www.planetary.org/space-images/the-solar-systems-major-moons).Image: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Montage by Emily Lakdawalla / Processing by Processing by Ted Stryk, Gordan Ugarkovic, Emily Lakdawalla, and Jason Perry. > ## Saturn Facts > Average temperature: -138°C (-218°F) where atmospheric pressure equals sea level on Earth > Average distance from Sun: 1,434 million kilometers (891 million miles), or 9.5 times farther from the Sun than Earth > Diameter: 120,536 kilometers (74,898 miles), Saturn is 9.4 times wider than Earth > Volume: 827 trillion km3 (198 trillion mi3), Earth could fit inside Saturn 827 times > Gravity: 9 m/s², or 92% that of Earth’s > Solar day: 11 Earth hours > Solar year: 10,759 Earth days > Atmosphere: 96% hydrogen, 3% helium, 1% other gases ## How we study Saturn Christiaan Huygens first glimpsed Saturn’s rings and the planet’s largest moon, Titan, through a telescope in the 1650s. Shortly thereafter, Giovanni Cassini found 4 more moons and the planet’s largest ring gap, now named the Cassini Division in his honor. NASA’s Pioneer 11 was the first spacecraft to visit Saturn, flying past the planet in 1979 and revealing yet another outer ring. Voyager 1 flew by a year later, swinging by Titan to get a good look at the moon’s thick orange atmosphere. Voyager 2 flew closer to Saturn itself, discovering the planet’s upper atmosphere was a chilly -200 degrees Celsius (-328 degrees Fahrenheit), and finding trace amounts of ammonia crystals that give Saturn its pale yellow hue. In 2004, Cassini-Huygens, a joint robotic mission by NASA and the European Space Agency, became the first spacecraft to orbit Saturn. One of the most revolutionary space missions of all time, Cassini spent 13 Earth years — almost half a Saturn year — watching how the planet and its moons changed with the seasons as they orbited the Sun. On Saturn itself, Cassini studied the [hexagonal storm](https://www.planetary.org/space-images/saturns-north-polar-hexagon-rings-raw) at the planet’s north pole first seen by Voyager 2 in 1981, and [discovered](https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2006-137) a smaller, circular vortex on the south pole. The north pole storm is remarkably symmetric and has a central eyewall akin to Earth’s hurricanes. Cassini also observed a [planet-wide megastorm](https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/15329/catching-its-tail/) that appears roughly every Saturn year—30 Earth years. The spacecraft also [mapped the structure and shape](https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/cassini/science/magnetosphere/) of Saturn’s magnetic field and narrowed down [the planet’s rotation rate](https://www.planetary.org/articles/how-long-is-a-day-on-saturn) — less than half an Earth day, even though Saturn is 9.5 Earths wide. Shortly after its arrival at Saturn, Cassini released the European Huygens probe, which landed on Titan’s surface in 2005 — a first for any world in the outer Solar System. As Huygens descended, it gathered data on the [complex](https://sci.esa.int/web/cassini-huygens/-/55227-science-highlights-from-huygens-6-hazy-titan) [chemistry](https://sci.esa.int/web/cassini-huygens/-/55224-science-highlights-from-huygens-3-methane-mystery) happening in Titan’s atmosphere. Post-landing, the probe took the first-ever images from Titan’s surface and survived for 2 hours, despite frigid temperatures of about -180 degrees Celsius (-292 degrees Fahrenheit). As it performed long, swooping orbits around Saturn, Cassini repeatedly flew by many of the planet’s moons. The spacecraft’s cloud-penetrating radar pierced Titan’s orange haze, allowing scientists to create a [global geologic surface map](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/the-first-global-geologic-map-of-titan-completed). Gravity measurements by Cassini and radio measurements by Huygens showed that Titan likely [harbors a large subsurface ocean](https://sci.esa.int/web/cassini-huygens/-/55230-science-highlights-from-huygens-9-schumann-like-resonances-hints-of-a-subsurface-ocean) of water. Cassini also directly imaged Enceladus spewing water from its subsurface ocean out into space. Mission operators flew the spacecraft directly through a plume, leading to the [discovery of organic materials](https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/13148/complex-organics-bubble-up-from-ocean-world-enceladus/) using Cassini’s onboard mass spectrometer, which determines the chemical makeup of materials passing through it. Cassini performed what NASA dubbed the "Grand Finale" of its mission in 2017: a number of passes between Saturn and its inner rings. In these close encounters, Cassini measured the mass of the rings based on how the spacecraft was gently tugged toward them, and found them to weigh less than even the small moon Mimas, which is just 200 kilometers (124 miles) wide. Combined with the fact that the rings are bright, undarkened by constant space weathering, this hinted that they may be [less than 100 million years old](https://science.sciencemag.org/content/364/6445/eaat2965), which would be very young in geological terms. Cassini [ended its mission with an intentional plunge into Saturn](https://www.planetary.org/articles/0915-cassini-the-dying-of-the-light) in September 2017, becoming a permanent part of the planet it was sent to study. Cassini left an impressive legacy for future missions. As an all-purpose flagship spacecraft, it was designed to answer general questions about Saturn and its moons, and help us figure out questions for new missions to answer. The next — and at the moment, only — spacecraft heading to the Saturn system is [Dragonfly](https://www.planetary.org/space-missions/dragonfly). Dragonfly is a NASA mission to Titan scheduled to launch in June 2027. The spacecraft is an eight-bladed drone-like craft called a quadcopter that will make short flights around the surface. Dragonfly will study the chemicals that rain from Titan’s atmosphere onto the surface. Because we think Titan’s atmosphere is similar to Earth’s when life arose around 3.5 billion years ago, the mission will help us understand possible environments for life here and elsewhere. Life as we know it needs three things: an energy source like sunlight, a liquid solvent like water, and complex, organic molecules that bond with one another. Titan has the organic molecules, but it’s very cold, and hosts liquid methane and ethane on its surface instead of water. Dragonfly will, in a sense, be studying an alternate version of Earth. It will see how Titan relates to life as we know it — and to theoretical forms of life unlike anything we’ve ever imagined. [![Cassini makes the plunge](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%27http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%27%20width=%271200%27%20height=%27675%27%20style=%27background:%23CCC%27%20/%3E)](https://www.planetary.org/space-images/cassini-makes-the-plunge) Cassini makes the plunge NASA's Cassini spacecraft plunges toward the gap between Saturn and its rings. > ## Learn more > - [The best pictures of Saturn's rings](https://www.planetary.org/articles/best-pictures-saturn-rings) > - [Every mission to Saturn ever](https://www.planetary.org/space-missions/every-saturn-mission) > - [How long is a day on Saturn?](https://www.planetary.org/articles/how-long-is-a-day-on-saturn) ### [Action Center](https://www.planetary.org/action-center) Whether it's advocating, teaching, inspiring, or learning, you can do something for space, right now. Let's get to work. Acknowledgements: This page was initially written by [Jatan Mehta](https://www.planetary.org/connect/our-experts/profiles/jatan-mehta.html) in 2020. [![The Planetary Society logo](https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/sites/planetary/images/TPS_Logo_3Stack-White.svg)](https://www.planetary.org/) Empowering the world's citizens to advance space science and exploration. - [![X icon](https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/sites/planetary/images/x-logo.svg)](https://x.com/exploreplanets) [Account Center](https://www.planetary.org/accountcenter) • [Contact Us](https://www.planetary.org/about/contact) • [Privacy Policy](https://www.planetary.org/privacy-policy) [![Charity Navigator four stars](https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/sites/planetary/images/charity-navigator-4star.png)](https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/953423566)[![Guidestar logo](https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/sites/planetary/images/guidestar.png)](https://www.guidestar.org/profile/95-3423566) Give with confidence. 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