Page 6 - SOLAR SYSTEM

Remarkable rings

6 4 Saturn i9 the Solar 9ystern's seco nd biggeS t
planet. It is surrounded by huge, shining rings. Like Jupiter,
Saturn is made almost completely of hydrogen and helium.
Below its thin atmosphere, these gases _are compressed

so much that they become liquid.

<;ctrurn gets its colour
from sulphur in its
atinosrhere

The total widtt, ol' Saturn's r,ng,
is abovt three-quarters
ol' the distar<:e from Earlh to
' Saturn spins so rast the Moon, but they are only a
that it bulges ouiwards at l'ew hundred meir-e<3 thick
'li,e middle.

6 5 MilliohS of ice par-ticles rnake up
Satut-h'S t-ihgS. This is what makes them so bright.
They _orbit the planet like tiny moons reflecting sunlight.
The nngs are thought to be the remains of destroyed
moons, comets or asteroids.

The ice in Saturn's
rings ranges in size
rrom specks smaller
tt,an a grain or sand
to huge chunks.