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Concept information

solar system > natural satellite > Saturn satellite

Preferred term

Saturn satellite  

Definition

  • The moons of Saturn are numerous and diverse, ranging from tiny moonlets only tens of meters across to enormous Titan, which is larger than the planet Mercury. Saturn has 83 moons with confirmed orbits that are not embedded in its rings of which only 13 have diameters greater than 50 kilometers—as well as dense rings that contain millions of embedded moonlets and innumerable smaller ring particles. Seven Saturnian moons are large enough to have collapsed into a relaxed, ellipsoidal shape, though only one or two of those, Titan and possibly Rhea, are currently in hydrostatic equilibrium. Particularly notable among Saturn's moons are Titan, the second-largest moon in the Solar System (after Jupiter's Ganymede), with a nitrogen-rich Earth-like atmosphere and a landscape featuring dry river networks and hydrocarbon lakes, Enceladus, which emits jets of gas and dust from its south-polar region, and Iapetus, with its contrasting black and white hemispheres. (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moons_of_Saturn)

Broader concept

Entry terms

  • Saturnian satellite

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URI

http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/MDL-QF3QJLJN-5

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