Moons of Saturn
There are 62 moons orbiting Saturn. The moons of Saturn vary not only in size but also in composition and shape. The largest of the moons of Saturn is the aptly named Titan, more than 5,000 km across and is bigger than Mercury.
There are 7 major moons of Saturn and the rest are grouped based on the mythology from which it is taken. Most of the minor moons of Saturn are less than 1 km across and are icy celestial bodies that closely resemble planetary rings.
Major Moons of Saturn
Titan – The largest of Saturn’s numerous natural satellites measuring 5,150 km across. The surface of Titan is mostly rocky materials and ice and its atmosphere is mostly composed of nitrogen, which could create a climate similar to that of ancient Earth. It is believed that Titan’s environment can nurture extraterrestrial microorganisms.
Rhea – Named after the mother of the Olympian gods in Greek Mythology. It is the second largest moon of Saturn measuring 1,530 km across and is the 9th largest natural satellite in the solar system
Iapetus – With a diameter of 1,470 km, it is the 3rd largest moon of Saturn. It was discovered by Giovanni Cassini in 1671. It has a distinct feature of having a bright and dark hemisphere.
Dione – The 4th largest moon of Saturn named after a vague character in Greek Mythology. It measures 1,122 km in diameter and is the 15th largest moon in the solar System. Despite its size, its mass exceeds all the moons smaller than itself combined.
Thetys – Discovered by Giovanni Cassini in 1684, this moon named after a titan in the Greek Mythology has a 1,070 km diameter. Like Dione and Rhea, the surface of Thetys is mostly icy.
Enceladus – Discovered by William Herschel in 1789, it has a diameter of 500 kilometers. It has a very reflective surface and it reflects most of the sunlight that hits its surface.
Mimas – Also discovered by William Herschel in 1789. It has a 400 km diameter and has low density that led scientists to believe it is mostly made of ice with very little percentage of rocks.
Moons of Saturn
Thanks for the scaling. This is the first I’ve been able to picture the correct distance and size of the earth-moon system — very helpful in imagining the moon’s orbit intersecting with the earth’s orbital plane. Thanks for the music not being electronic and overbusy, and for doing everything yourself. Great job on getting the transit of Jupiter’s moon! Thanks for the whole project, well done!
mimas looks like the death star 😀
This is great for my project i have to do on saturn and its moons. Thanks for all the info
I’m researching Rhea for my science project. Maybe you could add a little more about its atmosphere and wind speeds.
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it is great even in heaven we cant see such a beauty AWESOME!
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this sit is helping me with my project that is do friday and i would like to say the ones who made this site thank you and keep up the good work:)
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love this website so much!!!
thanks for the facts
This article is very helpful and i just wanted to thank the lord for making this beautiful planet called Saturn and all its moons 🙂
i think saturns moons are awsome
cool
why dont they list all the moons names it would be very useful
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booooooo moons of saturn