Saturn Flashcards
What are the two dominant rings of Saturn, and what divides them (name in order closest to the sun) (Which is the brightest and most massive)
From the closest to Saturn of these, which two less visible ring sets orbit closer still to saturn
B-ring (the brightest and most massive)
Cassini Division
A-ring
(D-ring and C-ring, with the former being closest to Saturn)
What are the next three moons after Mimas in size order
Hyperion
Phoebe
Janus
How many satellites does Saturn have, and how many have been named
82 officially recognised
53 named
What is noticeably different about the orbit of Iapetus compared to the other major moons
What three other features/facts is Iapetus remarkable for
Its not in the same plane (cause unknown)
It is the largest body in the Solar System known not to be in hydrostatic equilibrium
Its famous two-tone colouring
A massive equatorial ridge running 3/4 the length of the moon
Why is Tethys bright
It gets sandblasted by particles from the E-ring
Who first discovered the split in Saturn’s rings
Who first determined the true nature of Saturn’s rings
Giovanni Cassini (of course) in 1675
James Clark Maxwell in 1859 (showing through maths that they could not be solid planes or ringlets)
What allows Saturn’s rings to stay bright
collisions (otherwise they would become darker because of the accumlation of dust)
You known the order of the major moons, but what about the order by size
Titan,
Rhea
Iapetus
Dione
Tethys
Enceledas
Mimas
Who (and when) discovered Saturn’s rings
Who had nearly discovered Saturn;s rings
Christian Huygens (in 1655), the same year he discovered Titan
Gallileo in 1610, but he accounted what he saw to two big-moons.
Which two moons did Cassini discover in 1684
Dione and Tethys
(he had discovered Rhea and Iapetus earlier)
What is the remarkable feature in Saturn’s northern hemisphere
A long-lived hexagonal cloud structure more than 27,000km across on the the north polar region
Thought to be caused by circumpolar jet stream, and its unlike any other storm yet seen in the Solar System
The soutern pole is also dominated by a large storm
How many more time more massive is Saturn than the Earth
95.2
What ring is famously created by particle ejected by cryovolcanism from the tiger-stripes of the southern polar region of Enceledas.
Betweem the orbits of which moons can it be found
- what is unusual about this ring compared to the other main rings
- what does this ejecta mean from Tethys, the next moon out
The E ring. It is distributed between the orbits of Mimas and Titan
It is 2,000 km wide (c.f. tens of meters of other rings)
Particles of the E-ring tend to accumulate on moons that orbit within it. The equator of the leading hemisphere of Tethys is tinted slightly blue due to infalling material. The trojan moons Telesto, Calypso, Helene and Polydeuces are particularly affected as their orbits move up and down the ring plane. This results in their surfaces being coated with bright material that smooths out features.
Hyperion
Hyperion is one of the largest bodies known to be highly irregularly shaped (very spongy looking too), often assumed to be the remains of a larger moon broken up by an ancient collission
It likes between Titan and Iapetus
What is Saturn’s axial tilt
26.7 degrees similar to earth so has seasons in a similar way)
Why is Saturn much less dense than Jupiter
Its a lot less massive, that allows its outer layers to expand out further, and with that greater volume its density decreases
What element dominates in Saturn, even out to its 1,000km atmosphere
What are the clouds in the atmosphere made from (by upper and lower layers)
What gives Saturn its colour
Hydrogen
clouds are from ammonia compounds and water
In the upper atmosphere clouds are ammonium hydrogen sulphide and in the lower levels its water ice
The ammonium compound haze gives Saturn its colour
How far from the Sun is Saturn (in AU)
9.58
How long is a day on Saturn
10.66 hours
Why is the cryovolcanism on Enceladus
It lies in an orbital resonance with Dione, so basically it is due to the competing gravity of Dione and Saturn producing tidal heating
How long does Saturn take to orbit the Sun
29.46 earth years
What is the name of the reoccuring giant feature on Saturn, and who first discovered it
Great White Spot (here seen stretching out)
Asaph Hall in 1876 (and famously be comic actor Will Hay in 1933)
What interested feature did NASA scientists report seeing in April 2014 on the A-Ring
possible formative stage of a new moon near the outer edge of the A-ring
What is the gravity of Saturn at the equator
1.02
