Cloud formations, storms, and strong winds define the observed surface

• low density atmosphere, rich in hydrogen and helium – less dense than water!

• sunlight shines less brightly than on Jupiter, so clouds are cooler

• ice common

Numerous, beautiful rings!

• made of ice (shiny) – cometary remnants?

• 1,000s of rings in total

• only a few meters wide (R_Saturn = 6 × 10⁷ meters)

• shepherd moons push and hold the rings in place

Many major and minor moons – accreted asteroids?

• Titan: rock and ice, nitrogen atmosphere (smoggy, inverse greenhouse effect), very cold

• Tethys: rock and ice, cracked, cratered and old

• Enceladus: recent geological activity (lightly cratered regions), heated by tides

	Tethys and Diones	Mimas	Inside the Rings
	Shadowed rings	Red Cloud Feature
Images of Saturn, its primary moons, and its glorious rings. [NASA]