Structure and Surface
Saturn is a gas giant like Jupiter. It is made mostly of hydrogen and helium. Saturn has a thick atmosphere.
Is Saturn’s atmosphere thick or thin?
How thick is the atmosphere on Saturn?
Saturn
| Designations | |
|---|---|
| Angular diameter | 14.5″ to 20.1″ (excludes rings) |
| Atmosphere | |
| Surface pressure | 140 kPa |
| Scale height | 59.5 km (37.0 mi) |
Why is Saturn’s atmosphere so thick?
Saturn contains more sulfur than Jupiter, which give its zones and belts an orangish, smog-like cast. Saturn's temperature and pressure increase from the exterior of the planet toward its center, changing the makeup of the clouds. The upper layers of clouds are made up of ammonia ice.
Which planets have thick or thin atmospheres?
All four giant planets in our solar system – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune – have very thick, deep atmospheres. The smaller, rocky planets – Earth, Venus and Mars – have much thinner atmospheres hovering above their solid surfaces.
How is the atmosphere of Saturn?
Saturn is approximately 75% hydrogen and 25% helium with traces of other substances like methane and water ice. Saturn is one of the windiest places in the Solar System, and wind speeds have been clocked at a staggering 1800 kilometres per hour at the equator. …
How thick is Saturn’s crust?
According to the model, the thickness varies between about 35 kilometres (22 miles) in the cratered equatorial regions (yellow) to less than 5 kilometres (3 miles) in the active south polar terrain (blue).
Is Saturn lighter than air?
The basic idea is that water vapor is heavier than the hydrogen and helium that make up the bulk of Saturn's atmosphere, so once each giant storm dumps its huge mass of rain, the air within the clouds is left lighter than the atmosphere below. … This cooling process takes about 30 years, and then come the storms."
How thick are Saturn’s clouds?
The total thickness of the three cloud layers in Saturn's atmosphere is roughly 200 km, compared with about 80 km on Jupiter, and each layer is itself somewhat thicker than its counterpart on Jupiter. The reason for this difference is Saturn's weaker gravity.
What planet has the thinnest atmosphere?
Mercury Of all the planets in the solar system, Mercury has the thinnest atmosphere, thinner than even Mars. Several components are constantly replenished by the solar wind blowing off of the nearby sun.