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Saturn (mag. -0.5) was in opposition on the last day of the year 2003. It will be in conjunction on July 8th and stay in the morning sky the rest of the year 2004. |
| Property | Unit | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Mass | kg | 5.69 x 10^26 |
| Diameter | km | 120660 |
| Mean density | kg/m^3 | 690 |
| Escape velocity | m/sec | 35600 |
| Average distance from Sun | AU | 9.539 |
| Rotation period (length of day) | Earth hours | 10.2 |
| Revolution period (length of year) | Earth years | 29.46 |
| Obliquity (tilt of axis) | degrees | 26.7 |
| Orbit inclination | degrees | 2.49 |
| Orbit eccentricity | deviation from circular | 0.056 |
| Mean temperature at 1 bar level | ēK (ēC) | 88 (-185) |
| Visual geometric albedo | ratio (0 to 1) | 0.46 |
| Atmospheric components | hydrogen helium methane |
97% 3% .05% |
| Rings are 270,000 km in diameter, but only a few hundred meters thick. Particles are centimeters to decameters in size and are ice (some may be covered with ice); there are traces of silicate and carbon minerals. There are four main ring groups and three more faint, narrow ring groups separated by gaps called divisions. |