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Rocky planets
Rocky planets
Although the planets that orbit
the Sun are roughly the same age, they vary greatly in their size and the materials from which they are made. The Earth is one of a group of five planets that are largely made of solid rock. (See also: Mars; Mercury; Pluto; Venus.)
S
Satellite
A body that revolves around a larger body (see: Moons).
Saturn V rocket
The main launching rocket for many U.S. space probes.
Shepherd moon
A moon with gravity that has
an important effect on the dust and rocks in the rings near it. For example, two shepherd moons— Pandora and Prometheus—contain the F Ring around Saturn.
Shoemaker-Levy 9 Comet
A comet discovered in 1993 when it was captured by Jupiter’s gravity. It broke up into several fragments, and they plummeted
 Saturn V rocket—Blasting off from the Kennedy Space Center.
Saturn
Saturn (diameter 120,500km) is a giant planet (gas giant) that orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.4 billion km once every 29 years. It spins on its axis once every 10.6 hours.
It is about a third of the mass
of Jupiter (100 times the mass
and nearly 800 times the volume of the Earth). It is the only planet with an average density is less than that of water.
Saturn has a small rock core surrounded by an enormously thick layer of metallic and liquid hydrogen, which in turn is
surrounded by a hydrogen-helium atmosphere made up of 96% hydrogen and 4% helium.
Saturn’s most striking feature— which can be seen even with a low- power telescope—is the dust bands that surround its equator (called
the F Ring). There are three main
rings, and every ring is divided into numerous smaller rings.
Saturn has 18 moons, more than any other planet. The largest is Titan. (See also: Cassini and Voyager.)
(For Saturn’s moons see: Dione; Helene; Hyperion; Iapetus; Janus; Shepherd moon.)
Rocky core
Dust bands
 Saturn—Saturn has an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium. Below is liquid and then metallic hydrogen. At the very center is a rocky core. Rings of dust and rock surround the planet, the rings being separated by shepherd moons.
Liquid
Gas
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