Find all the latest news on Saturns's moons, including Titan, the most Earth-like world in the Solar System, here.
Latest News About Saturn
'Game-changing' study into Saturn's northern lights
March 22, 2023
The exact origins of the aurora for Saturn are a little less clear than for Earth Read more
NASA's Hubble watches 'spoke season' on Saturn
December 21, 2023
It’s believed the dark spokes are dust particles electrostatically levitated above the ring plane Read more
Saturn’s rings will disappear in 2025. Don’t worry, they’ll return soon enough
November 20, 2023
The phenomenon is known as ring-plane crossing and occurs about every 15 years Read more
Solar eclipses seen by long-dead Cassini spacecraft shed new light on Saturn's rings
November 16, 2023
Clues about the transparency of Saturn's rings were in Cassini's data all along Read more
New research provides explanation for the origin of Saturn’s rings and icy moons
October 1, 2023
The rings began forming from a massive impact between two icy moons Read more
JWST watches seasons change on Saturn (video)
September 13, 2023
Astronomers saw the ringed planet's northern summer cooling as a 7.5-year-long autumn approaches Read more
100-year 'megastorms' on Saturn shower the ringed planet in ammonia rain
August 15, 2023
The storms of the gas giant put hurricanes on Earth to shame Read more
Saturn may have 'failed' as a gas giant
July 27, 2023
The ringed planet is definitely gaseous, but is it really 'giant?' Read more
New image from JWST reveals astonishing Saturn and its rings
June 30, 2023
Saturn’s iconic rings seem to glow eerily in this incredible infrared picture Read more
Saturn’s rings could be younger than flowers
May 31, 2023
We’re lucky that a relatively recent catastrophe created the gas-giant spectacle Read more
What Cassini’s “Grand Finale” taught us about Saturn’s interior
May 15, 2023
Those last few orbits and the final plunge revealed a wealth of information Read more
Surprise! Icy 'rain' from Saturn's rings is heating the gas giant's atmosphere
March 31, 2023
The phenomenon had never been seen in the Solar System before Read more
It’s spoke season on Saturn!
February 13, 2023
We see them only in the years preceding and following Saturn’s equinoxes Read more
Does Saturn have a missing moon?
November 2, 2022
The origin of Saturn’s rings has been a long-standing question in planetary science Read more
Saturn's rings could have come from a destroyed moon named Chrysalis
September 15, 2022
Saturn may have got both its tilt and its rings from a moon that got ripped apart Read more
Saturn is currently eating its own rings, the standout feature of our Solar System
April 2, 2022
In about 300 million years, the rings would completely disappear Read more
Saturn’s powerful winds explain changes in the length of its day
March 17, 2022
Atmospheric winds moving at more than 7,000 kilometers per hour distort Saturn’s magnetic field Read more
Will Saturn sprout spots this observing season?
March 16, 2022
Keep your eyes peeled for white spots! Read more
Space scientists discover a never-before-seen mechanism fueling huge planetary aurorae on Saturn
February 9, 2022
Saturn’s high-altitude winds generate an extraordinary aurorae Read more
What are Saturn's rings made of and what do they look like?
December 26, 2021
Multiple planets in the Solar System have rings, but none are as big or bright as Saturn's Read more
NASA spacecraft at the moon snaps photo of Saturn from lunar orbit
November 28, 2021
That's no moon! Read more
Hubble takes a series of giant outer planet family portraits
November 19, 2021
Every year, Hubble is pointed toward each of the outer planets as part of a program to monitor their atmospheres. Read more
Saturn's 'fuzzy core' seen in ring ripples
August 26, 2021
Seismic waves in Saturn’s rings reveal the strange ‘fuzzy core’ interior of the planet within Read more
40 years on, remembering Voyager's legacy at Saturn
August 24, 2021
Saturn, with its alluring rings and numerous moons, has long fascinated stargazers and scientists Read more
Using Saturn's rings to figure out what's inside the planet
July 12, 2021
It’s tough to see inside of Saturn, because the atmosphere is opaque to all wavelengths of radiation Read more
Helium rain probably falls inside Jupiter and Saturn
June 8, 2021
New experiments with lasers reveal the existence of helium rain inside planets composed primarily of hydrogen and helium Read more
Saturn has a weirdly neat, symmetrical magnetic field. We may finally know why
May 6, 2021
Saturn stands out among the planets, and not just because of its glorious system of rings Read more
Saturn has a fuzzy core, spread over more than half the planet’s diameter
May 6, 2021
A wave in one of the rings reveals the size and composition of the planet’s core Read more
This stunning animation shows why Saturn's rings are like a 'mini Solar System'
April 5, 2021
If star-hopping aliens ever visited our Solar System, Saturn is probably the planet they'd remember Read more
Hubble spies colorful change of seasons on Saturn
March 30, 2021
Earth isn't the only planet that experiences a changing of the seasons Read more
Fascinating Facts About Saturn
- If the sun were as tall as a typical front door, the Earth would be the size of a nickel and Saturn would be about as big as a volleyball.
- From Saturn’s surface, the Sun appears about one-tenth as large as it does from Earth and sunlight appears about 90 times dimmer.
- Saturn is twice as far away from the Sun as the Jupiter is, and the farthest planet that can be seen with the naked eye from Earth.
- Saturn is the least dense planet in the solar system because it is mostly made of gas; it is the only planet less dense than water!
- Saturn emits about 2.3 times the energy it receives from the Sun. This energy is thought to come from the continued cooling of the planet after its gravitational collapse during the formation of the solar system. Because of this, the weather on the planet is internally driven: it depends on the energy emitted by the planet itself. On the other hand, the weather on Earth is externally driven, by the sun!
- Saturn has some of fastest winds in the solar system; winds have been measured up to the speed of 1800 kilometers per hour.
- The planet’s rings are made up of bits of ice, dust and rock; these can range from the size of a grain of sand up to sizes larger large buildings. The rings also contain moonlets (likely chunks of the ancient body that broke up to produce Saturn’s rings) and ‘propeller’ structures (gaps in ring material thought to be caused by the moonlets). The evidence for moonlets and ‘propeller’ structures suggests there is a dynamic between Saturn’s moons and rings.
Missions
Cassini (1997)
Mission to study Saturn and its moons
Voyager 1 & 2 (1977)
Mission to explore Saturn and Jupiter, but later extended to Uranus and Neptune as well
Pioneer 11 (1973)
First mission to explore Saturn