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2006-12-26 11:16:52 · 24 answers · asked by Natasha B 1 in Science & Mathematics Astronomy & Space

24 answers

Sensible automotive design appealing to a large segment of the consumer market.

2006-12-26 11:23:26 · answer #1 · answered by Scythian1950 7 · 4 0

Saturn is famous for its rings

2006-12-26 19:28:06 · answer #2 · answered by ramshi 4 · 0 0

Rings

2006-12-26 21:38:12 · answer #3 · answered by bldudas 4 · 0 0

Rings

2006-12-26 19:46:29 · answer #4 · answered by leged56 5 · 0 0

One Saturn for the rings around it and the other for the dent free doors that pop out when hit....

2006-12-26 19:26:08 · answer #5 · answered by colinhughes333 3 · 1 0

Saturn is probably best known for its planetary rings, which make it one of the most visually remarkable objects in the solar system.


The rings can be viewed using a quite modest modern telescope or with good binoculars. They extend from 6,630 km to 120,700 km above Saturn's equator, average close to one kilometer in thickness and are composed of silica rock, iron oxide, and ice particles ranging in size from specks of dust to the size of a small automobile. There are two main theories regarding the origin of Saturn's rings. One theory, originally proposed by Édouard Roche in the 19th century, is that the rings were once a moon of Saturn whose orbit decayed until it came close enough to be ripped apart by tidal forces (see Roche limit). A variation of this theory is that the moon disintegrated after being struck by a large comet or asteroid. The second theory is that the rings were never part of a moon, but are instead left over from the original nebular material that Saturn formed out of. This theory is not widely accepted today, since Saturn's rings are thought to be unstable over periods of millions of years and therefore of relatively recent origin.

While the largest gaps in the rings, such as the Cassini division and Encke division, can be seen from Earth, the Voyager spacecrafts discovered the rings to have an intricate structure of thousands of thin gaps and ringlets. This structure is thought to arise from the gravitational pull of Saturn's many moons in several different ways. Some gaps are cleared out by the passage of tiny moonlets such as Pan, many more of which may yet be discovered, and some ringlets seem to be maintained by the gravitational effects of small shepherd satellites such as Prometheus and Pandora. Other gaps arise from resonances between the orbital period of particles in the gap and that of a more massive moon further out; Mimas maintains the Cassini division in this manner. Still more structure in the rings actually consists of spiral waves raised by the moons' periodic gravitational perturbations.

Data from the Cassini space probe indicates that the rings of Saturn possess their own atmosphere, independent of that of the planet itself. The atmosphere is composed of molecular oxygen gas (O2) produced when ultraviolet light from the Sun disintegrates water ice in the rings. Chemical reactions between water molecule fragments and further ultraviolet stimulation create and eject, among other things O2. According to models of this atmosphere, H2 is also present. The O2 and H2 atmospheres are so sparse that if the entire atmosphere were somehow condensed onto the rings, it would be on the order of 1 atom thick. [11] The rings also have a similarly sparse OH (hydroxide) atmosphere. Like the O2, this atmosphere is produced by the disintegration of water molecules, though in this case the disintegration is done by energetic ions that bombard water molecules ejected by Saturn's moon Enceladus. This atmosphere, despite being extremely sparse, was detected from Earth by the Hubble Space Telescope. [12]

Saturn shows complex patterns in its brightness. Most of the variability is due to the changing aspect of the rings, and this goes through two cycles every orbit. However, superimposed on this is variability due to the eccentricity of the planet’s orbit that causes the planet to display brighter oppositions in the northern hemisphere than it does in the southern. (Henshaw, C., 2003). [13]

2006-12-27 10:15:41 · answer #6 · answered by sierra8152001 2 · 0 0

Saturn is probably best known for its planetary rings, which make it one of the most visually remarkable objects in the solar system.

2006-12-26 19:26:36 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

outer space saturn 4 its rings and the other 4 cool cars!:)

2006-12-26 20:19:15 · answer #8 · answered by dalmatianfest 2 · 0 0

Rings.

2006-12-26 19:19:23 · answer #9 · answered by quatrapiller 6 · 0 0

The many rings and the colors

2006-12-26 19:20:06 · answer #10 · answered by lenny2689 1 · 0 0

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