Saturn, Planet of Rings, Moons, and More to Explore

Why We Study Saturn

The real Lord of the Rings is Saturn, a massive outer planet boasting a set of rings about 27 Earths wide. Being a gas giant like Jupiter, Saturn shares many of its attributes: a strong magnetic field generated by churning metallic hydrogen deep inside, raging storms in its gaseous upper atmosphere, and a diversity of planet-like moons that are worlds unto themselves. Saturn’s rings and larger moons are visible even from small backyard telescopes.

Saturn was born right after Jupiter, roughly 4.5 billion years ago in the solar system’s early days. Both planets probably formed closer to the Sun and then migrated out to their current positions about 4 billion years ago. Their gravity likely lofted asteroids and comets all over the solar system, some of which slammed into early Earth and may have brought water here.

We know of more than 4,000 exoplanets—worlds orbiting other stars—and the statistics show us that most stars have planets. Many are Jupiter and Saturn-like words close to their stars, supporting the idea that our own gas giants moved during the solar system’s early days. One exoplanet we’ve found appears to have rings 200 times wider than Saturn’s! By studying Saturn and comparing it to similar exoplanets, we learn how solar systems evolve.