Astronomers have spotted 12 tiny new moons
circling Saturn. The observations could help scientists understand how such
satellites become snagged by gas giants. A team of
astronomers from the University of Hawaii and the Carnegie Institute of
Washington first spotted the dozen using the Subaru telescope on Mauna Kea,
Hawaii on 12 December 2004. Their observations were part of a broader hunt for
irregular moons so called because their orbit is far
from circular or highly inclined with respect to their planet’s equatorial
plane. In 1772, the famous mathematician, Joseph Louis Lagrange, discovered
that, in a system which consists of a satellite in orbit around a larger body,
there are five positions at which a third body can also maintain an orbit. These
positions are now called Lagrange points after him.Saturn
has a similar nature as Jupiter, it is a giant ball of liquid
hydrogen. Astronomers saw through a telescope and Saturn
appeared as a coulered ball with darker belts
and lighter zones which follow a similar pattern to
those of Jupiter. The rotation periods of Saturn
Equatorial Region has an average of plus/minus 10h.
14 minutes. Saturn is soo far from the sun that its
atmosphere is of course colder than the one of
Jupiter. The temperature above the clouds is minus
170 degrees compared to those of Jupiter being minus
120 degrees. The atmosphere is almost similar
comprising mainly Hydrogen- Helium and also Methane
and Ammonia are present. Titan, one of the largest
moons of Saturn with a diameter of 5800 Km was
discovered in 1655 by Christiaan Huygens who
realized that Saturn is in fact surrounded by a
bright ring, the large ring of Saturn.
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.
The planet Saturn is composed of
hydrogen, with small proportions of helium and trace elements.[10]
The interior consists of a small core of rock and ice,
surrounded by a thick layer of metallic hydrogen and a gaseous
outer layer. The outer atmosphere is generally bland in
appearance, although long-lived features can appear. Wind
speeds on Saturn can reach 1,800 km/h, significantly faster
than those on Jupiter. Saturn has a planetary magnetic field
intermediate in strength between that of Earth and the more
powerful field around Jupiter.
