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Uncommon Facts About Saturn

Saturn is a fascinating planet that has great mass, rings that revolve around it and as many as 60 moons trapped in its gravitational field. Saturn, 10 times further from the Sun than Earth is, has a composition of mostly helium and hydrogen existing in various states.

Rings
- The gravitational forces of many of Saturn's moons help keep the planet's elaborate system of rings in place. The rings are not solid but rather are composed of various-size particles of ice chunks and debris.
Cold World
- The very tops of the clouds in Saturn's atmosphere are as cold as minus-288 degrees Fahrenheit, according to tritonfun.com.
Lightning
- There is evidence of lightning on Saturn that scientists estimate to be as much as a million times more intense than the lightning bolts on Earth.
Auroras
- Saturn has strong magnetic fields, which result in particles of high energy influenced by the magnetic forces colliding with gases in the atmosphere. The product of this is the equivalent of the auroras that occur at the Earth's poles.
Smoggy Titan
- One of the moons of Saturn, Titan, has large concentrations of hydrogen and carbon; when sunlight hits these elements, they react to form a thick layer of smog over the entire moon.

Astronomy