Saturn: the planet and its rings PIA01969
Voyager 1 looked back at Saturn on Nov. 16, 1980, four days after the spacecraft flew past the planet, to observe the appearance of Saturn and its rings from this unique perspective.
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Image Credit: JPL/NASA  

Planetary Facts: Saturn

Equatorial radius (km): 60268

Mass (relative to Earth): 95.16

Density (g/cm3): 0.69

Surface gravity: 0.92
(relative to Earth)

Rotation period: 10.66 hours

Axial inclination: 26.7°

Distance from Sun (AU): 9.55

Orbital period: 29.42 years

Orbital eccentricity: 0.056

Composition of surface: gassy

Mean cloud-top temperature: -180°C

Composition of atmosphere: hydrogen (97%), hekium (3%), methane (0.5%), ammonia (0.01%)

Number of satellites: 18
Voyager 1 looked back at Saturn on Nov. 16, 1980, four days after the spacecraft flew past the planet, to observe the appearance of Saturn and its rings from this unique perspective.

A few of the spokelike ring features discovered by Voyager appear in the rings as bright patches in this image, taken at a distance of 5.3 million km from the planet. Saturn's shadow falls upon the rings, and the bright Saturn crescent is seen through all but the densest portion of the rings.
 
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