Since Saturn's [
http://www.nineplan…] axis is tilted as it orbits the Sun [
http://www.nineplan…], Saturn has seasons [
http://www-spof.gsf…Sseason.htm ], like those of planet Earth ... but Saturn's seasons last for over seven years. So what season [
http://heritage.sts…] is it on Saturn now? Orbiting the equator, the tilt of the rings of Saturn [
http://ringmaster.a…] provides quite a graphic seasonal display. In fact, this month, Saturn's rings will reach their most "open" angle after appearing nearly edge [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] on in the mid-1990s. The ringed planet [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] is also well placed in evening skies [
http://stardate.org…] providing a grand view as summer comes to Saturn's southern hemisphere and winter to the north. The Hubble Space Telescope took the above sequence of images [
http://heritage.sts…] about a year apart, starting on the left in 1996 and ending on the right in 2000. Although they look solid, Saturn's Rings are likely less than 50 meters thick [
http://adsabs.harva…nph-bib_query?bibcod e=1984Sci...223..396 Z ] and consist of individually orbiting bits of ice and rock ranging in size from grains of sand to barn-sized boulders.
Explanation
Since Saturn's [
http://www.nineplan…] axis is tilted as it orbits the Sun [
http://www.nineplan…], Saturn has seasons [
http://www-spof.gsf…Sseason.htm ], like those of planet Earth ... but Saturn's seasons last for over seven years. So what season [
http://heritage.sts…] is it on Saturn now? Orbiting the equator, the tilt of the rings of Saturn [
http://ringmaster.a…] provides quite a graphic seasonal display. In fact, this month, Saturn's rings will reach their most "open" angle after appearing nearly edge [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] on in the mid-1990s. The ringed planet [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] is also well placed in evening skies [
http://stardate.org…] providing a grand view as summer comes to Saturn's southern hemisphere and winter to the north. The Hubble Space Telescope took the above sequence of images [
http://heritage.sts…] about a year apart, starting on the left in 1996 and ending on the right in 2000. Although they look solid, Saturn's Rings are likely less than 50 meters thick [
http://adsabs.harva…nph-bib_query?bibcod e=1984Sci...223..396 Z ] and consist of individually orbiting bits of ice and rock ranging in size from grains of sand to barn-sized boulders.
Explanation
