Saturn: Facts & Figures

While cruising around Saturn in early October 2004, Cassini captured a series of images that have been composed into this large global natural color view of Saturn and its rings.

Adorned with thousands of beautiful ringlets, Saturn is unique among the planets. All four gas giant planets have rings -- made of chunks of ice and rock -- but none are as spectacular or as complicated as Saturn's. Like the other gas giants, Saturn is mostly a massive ball of hydrogen and helium.

Discovered By		Known by the Ancients
Date of Discovery		Unknown
Orbit Size Around Sun (semi-major axis)		Metric: 1,426,666,422 km English: 886,489,415 miles Scientific Notation: 1.4266664 x 109 km (9.53667594 A.U.) By Comparison: 9.537 x Earth
Perihelion (closest)		Metric: 1,349,823,615 km English: 838,741,509 miles Scientific Notation: 1.34982 x 109 km (9.023 A.U.) By Comparison: 9.176 x Earth
Aphelion (farthest)		Metric: 1,503,509,229 km English: 934,237,322 miles Scientific Notation: 1.50351 x 109 km (1.005 x 101 A.U.) By Comparison: 9.885 x Earth
Sidereal Orbit Period (Length of Year)		29.447498 Earth years 10,755.70 Earth days By Comparison: 29.447 x Earth
Orbit Circumference		Metric: 8,957,504,604 km English: 5,565,935,315 miles Scientific Notation: 8.958 x 109 km By Comparison: 9.530 x Earth
Average Orbit Velocity		Metric: 34,701 km/h English: 21,562 mph Scientific Notation: 9.6391 x 104 m/s By Comparison: 0.324 x Earth
Orbit Eccentricity		0.05386179 By Comparison: 3.223 x Earth
Orbit Inclination		2.49 degrees
Equatorial Inclination to Orbit		26.7 degrees
Mean Radius		Metric: 58,232 km English: 36,183.7 miles Scientific Notation: 5.8232 x 104 km By Comparison: 9.1402 x Earth
Equatorial Circumference		Metric: 365,882.4 km English: 227,348.8 miles Scientific Notation: 3.65882 x 105 km By Comparison: 9.1402 x Earth
Volume		Metric: 827,129,915,150,897 km3 English: 198,439,019,647,006 mi3 Scientific Notation: 8.2713 x 1014 km3 By Comparison: 763.594 x Earth
Mass		Metric: 568,319,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg Scientific Notation: 5.6832 x 1026 kg By Comparison: 95.161 x Earth
Density		Metric: 0.687 g/cm3 By Comparison: 0.125 x Earth
Surface Area		Metric: 42,612,133,285 km2 English: 16,452,636,641 square miles Scientific Notation: 4.2612 x 1010 km2 By Comparison: 83.543 x Earth
Surface Gravity		Metric: 10.4* m/s2 English: 34.3 ft/s2 By Comparison: If you weigh 100 pounds on Earth, you would weigh about 107 pounds on Saturn (at the equator). *Derived from a 1 bar radius of 60,268 km.
Escape Velocity		Metric: 129,924 km/h English: 80,731 mph Scientific Notation: 3.609 x 104 m/s By Comparison: Escape velocity of Earth is 25,030 mph.
Sidereal Rotation Period (Length of Day)		0.444 Earth days 10.656 hours By Comparison: 0.445 x Earth
Effective Temperature		Metric: -178 °C English: -288 °F Scientific Notation: 95 K
Atmospheric Constituents		Hydrogen, Helium Scientific Notation: H2, He By Comparison: Earth's atmosphere consists mostly of N2 and O2.