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The average distance between Saturn and the Sun is over 1.4 billion kilometers (9 AU). With an average orbital speed of 9.68 km/s, [6] it takes Saturn 10,759 Earth days (or about 29 + 1 ⁄ 2 years) [86] to finish one revolution around the Sun. [6] As a consequence, it forms a near 5:2 mean-motion resonance with Jupiter. [87]
One Earth year is slightly shorter than the period for the Sun to complete one circuit along the ecliptic (a sidereal year) because the inclined axis and equatorial plane slowly precess (rotate with respect to reference stars), realigning with the Sun before the orbit completes.
The full set of rings, imaged on 19 July 2013 as Saturn eclipses the Sun from the vantage of the Cassini orbiter, 1.2 million km (¾ million miles) distant (brightness is exaggerated). Earth appears as a dot at 4 o'clock, between the G and E rings. The rings of Saturn are the most extensive and complex ring system of any planet in the Solar System.
Earth's movement along its nearly circular orbit while it is rotating once around its axis requires that Earth rotate slightly more than once relative to the fixed stars before the mean Sun can pass overhead again, even though it rotates only once (360°) relative to the mean Sun. [n 5] Multiplying the value in rad/s by Earth's equatorial ...
The four outer planets, called giant planets or Jovian planets, collectively make up 99% of the mass orbiting the Sun. [h] All four giant planets have multiple moons and a ring system, although only Saturn's rings are easily observed from Earth. [91] Jupiter and Saturn are composed mainly of gases with extremely low melting points, such as ...
Rotation period with respect to distant stars, the sidereal rotation period (compared to Earth's mean Solar days) Synodic rotation period (mean Solar day) Apparent rotational period viewed from Earth Sun [i] 25.379995 days (Carrington rotation) 35 days (high latitude) 25 d 9 h 7 m 11.6 s 35 d ~28 days (equatorial) [2] Mercury: 58.6462 days [3 ...
Stars and planets rotate in the first place because conservation of angular momentum turns random drifting of parts of the molecular cloud that they form from into rotating motion as they coalesce. Given this average rotation of the whole body, internal differential rotation is caused by convection in stars which is a movement of mass, due to ...
The direction of rotation exhibited by most objects in the solar system (including Sun and Earth) is counterclockwise. Venus rotates clockwise, and Uranus has been knocked on its side and rotates almost perpendicular to the rest of the Solar System. The ecliptic remains within 3° of the invariable plane over five million years, [2] but is now ...