The First Real Images Of Saturn - What Have We Discovered?

In 1969, the first man landed on the moon. To this day, manned space travel is not yet ready to look towards Mars or even other planets. But progress and technology, coupled with an indomitable thirst for knowledge, make it possible to explore the infinite vastness of the universe. Many years ago, probes were built and sent out to collect data and information about our solar system. In the search for knowledge and possible life outside the Earth, projects were created and the impossible made possible. Through measuring instruments and high-resolution cameras, astonishing knowledge about Saturn was collected during a 20-year mission. If you would like to leave Earth with us to travel to the farthest reaches of the cosmos, then show us with a thumbs up, subscribe to Simply Space, and look forward to the videos that will be waiting for you in the future. Let's begin the journey to the mysterious Saturn. Saturn is not only the sixth planet in our solar system, but also the second largest after its direct neighbor, Jupiter. With an approximate distance of 1.4 billion kilometers from the Sun to Saturn, the planet takes about 29 years and 166 days to complete one orbit. The minimum distance to Earth is about 1.2 billion kilometers. The equatorial diameter is about 120,500 kilometers, which is 9.5 times the diameter of the Earth. The weight of Saturn is 95 Earth masses, which means the planet weighs the same as 95 Earths. Because of its size, Saturn was discovered thousands of years ago, and even before the telescope was invented. Its most famous feature is probably its rings, which gave Saturn the name Ringed Planet. The rings consist mainly of asteroids and water ice. The planet was named after the Roman god of harvest and its astronomical symbol represents the sickle of the god Saturn. Because its surface consists of over 95% hydrogen, Saturn is considered a gas planet. This property leads to a relatively low density. An Earth-like planet of this size would be many times heavier. Under the hydrogen layer, the metal layer begins with a thickness of about 14,000 kilometers. Further inside, it is followed by a layer of ice 8,000 kilometers wide. This high-pressure ice doesn't evaporate only because the upper layers exert such pressure on the ice layer. Temperatures of up to 13,000 degrees Celsius prevail here. What is the composition of the planet's atmosphere? Could we ever live on a gas planet? Hydrogen accounts for the majority of the composition, about 97%. The remaining 3% consists mainly of helium, methane, ammonia, and steam. The average temperature on the surface is 140 degrees Celsius. The question of whether humans will ever settle on Saturn has therefore been answered. Saturn is simply not Earth-like enough for man, even after terraforming, to ever settle there. On Mars, this is much more likely. The interior of the ringed planet consists of metallic iron and silicate materials. To date, 82 moons have been discovered in the orbit of the gas giant. No other planet in our solar system has more satellites than Saturn. The largest and also best-known moon is Titan, with a diameter of about 5,150 kilometers. Titan is also the only moon in our solar system that has an atmosphere that consists mainly of nitrogen. On the surface, there are so-called methane seas, which consist of liquid hydrocarbon. Thus, Titan is also the only celestial body, apart from the Earth, on which accumulated liquid can be found. The Cassini and Huygens Space Probes Maybe you remember? In October 1997, a Titan IV-B rocket with two probes on board was launched on Cape Canaveral. The two space probes, Cassini and Huygens, were specially built to study Saturn and its numerous moons. Cassini was an orbiter whose mission is to study the orbit of the planet. Huygens, on the other hand, was designed to land on Titan and study the satellite on its surface. After almost seven years, the probes entered the orbit of the gas giant. As they traveled Saturn's rings, high-resolution photos were taken for the first time at close range. Images of the moon Phoebe could also be taken and show deep craters. These could have been formed 4.5 billion years ago, when the solar system was formed. During the flight through the rings, two unknown, relatively small moons were also discovered, which were provisionally named S2004-S1 and S2004-S2. On the Titan On December 25, 2004, Huygens was separated from Cassini by a blast and was able to start its landing approach to Titan. Barely two weeks later, the time had come, and after difficult turbulence, Huygens landed on Saturn's largest satellite. The probe was able to transmit data from Titan's surface for just 72 minutes. But the information that could be obtained from this alone was extremely revealing. From an altitude of about 40 kilometers, the probe was able to take pictures of an incredible world. At first glance, the surface of the moon does not look too different from that of the Earth. Also, river courses show a strong similarity with rivers of the Earth. Added to this are the weather conditions, which also have similarities with our blue planet. During the landing approach, Huygens was surrounded by fog for almost the entire time, but it was transparent enough to allow photographs. The wind on Titan had speeds of up to 450 kilometers per hour. With Huygens, it was possible for the first time to prove the existence of complex organic compounds. These are both gaseous and solid environments, especially valuable for science in the discovery of Argon. This element indicates that geological changes have taken place and may still be taking place. In 2005, Cassini discovered another moon in the orbit of Saturn, Daphnis. In the same year, Cassini flew past the moon Hyperion for the first time and was able to take unique pictures of the satellite. Although it's not unusual for moons to be deformed in this way, given the size of this moon, it was unique. Hyperion is believed to be a fragment of a larger celestial body. This may have been caused by a meteorite impact. The crater Helios with a depth of 10 kilometers and a diameter of 120 kilometers indicates this. Pictures of the satellite Tathes, named after a titan of Greek mythology, are strongly reminiscent of the moon and our Earth. Both the round shape and the craters on the surface have much in common with the Earth's satellite. Our moon, however, has a diameter three times as large. In 2006, however, an as-yet-unknown ring of Saturn was discovered. The Equinox Mission On June 30, 2008, the primary mission was completed with full success and the Equinox Mission was launched. During this mission, the thickness of Saturn's rings was investigated. Saturn's Brightest Moon The Solstice Mission followed on October 10, 2010. On the moon Enceladus, the first conditions for life were found in the form of a salt lake. Enceladus is mostly covered by water ice, but underneath there is a warm ocean. The spectacular images also show bright blue stripes that look like giant rivers. These stripes are cracks in the ice through which water is ejected into space. The End of the Mission On September 15, 2017, the fuel reserves ran out. Last data and pictures were sent to Earth. Then, the probe burned up upon entering Saturn's atmosphere. Real Photos of Saturn With the Cassini probe, it was possible for the first time to take high-resolution photos of the incredible beauty of the planet. At a distance of 2.7 million kilometers, the camera captured the planet and its rings. A closer picture of the rings was taken in August 2009. The belts of Saturn looked as though they were painted. A seemingly divine order in the chaos of rocks and water ice. The North Pole The photos of the gas planet show how clearly the North Pole stands out from the rest of the planet's surface. As if it were drawn and manually constructed, you can see the hexagonal shape of the pole clearly on the pictures. Storms on the Planet Thanks to Cassini, we witnessed an enormous tornado at the south pole of the gas planet. Photos show the dark eye of the storm. Such a tornado could not be recorded on any other planet in our solar system so far. Lightning on Saturn could also be photographed. In 2011, a gigantic storm was discovered on the ringed planet. The storm was not only enormous in size, the lightning was brighter and 10,000 times stronger than the lightning on Earth. Cassini's equipment was more than just overtaxed. The intensity and frequency of the lightning was too much for the probe. The diameter of the storm was estimated at 100,000 kilometers. The day the Earth smiled Another unique and incredible recording was made in 2013. In the shadow of Saturn, Cassini used a wide-angle camera to take a photo showing not only the Earth, but also Mars and Venus. In case you are wondering, the little blue dot is the Earth. In another photo, you can even see the Earth's moon. This all happened at the time of a solar eclipse on July 13, 2013, when people were asked to look at Saturn and smile friendly. Did you smile? You see, we don't even have to look to fictional planets in movies. The beauty and diversity in our solar system alone can amaze us. Saturn, with its rings and its many extraordinary moons, may no longer be a mystery, but by no means have all the mysteries been solved.