Cronus

Photograph information

Telescope Meade Lx10 eyepiece projection 9mm SP Meade

Film: Kodak CPY400

Exposure : 8 sec no guided 

Date : 7/25/98

Location : Greece Island Kreta

Photograph Information:

Saturn is the sixth planet in order of distance from the Sun, and the second-largest in the solar system. Saturn's most distinctive feature is its ring system, which was first seen in 1610 by Galileo, using one of the first telescopes. He did not understand that the rings were separate from the body of the planet, so he described them as handles (ansae). The rings are named in order of their discovery, and from the planet outward they are known as the D, C, B, A, F, G, and E rings. They are now known to comprise more than 100,000 individual thin rings, each of which circles the planet.

As seen from Earth, Saturn appears as a yellowish object—one of the brightest in the night sky. Observed through a telescope, the A and B rings are easily visible, whereas only under optimal conditions can the D and E rings be seen. Sensitive ground-based telescopes can detect the brightest of its numerous satellites, and in the haze of Saturn's gaseous envelope, pale belts and zones parallel to the equator can be distinguished.

 In Roman mythology, Saturn is the god of agriculture. The associated Greek god, Cronus, was the son of Uranus and Gaia and the father of Zeus (Jupiter). Saturn is the root of the English word "Saturday" 

More than 20 satellites have been discovered orbiting Saturn. Their diameters range from 20 to 5,150 km (12 to 3,200 mi). They consist mostly of the lighter, icy substances that prevailed in the outer parts of the gas and dust nebula from which the solar system was formed, where radiation from the distant Sun could not evaporate the frozen gases. The five larger inner satellites—Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, and Rhea—are roughly spherical in shape and composed mostly of water ice.

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