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Titius-Bode Law: Saturn
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| Saturn |
| Orbital characteristics |
| Mean radius |
1.4294*109km |
| Eccentricity |
0.0560 |
| Revolution period |
29y 167d
6.7h |
| Synodic period |
378.1
days |
| Avg. Orbital Speed |
9.46
km/s |
| Inclination |
2.488° |
| Number of satellites |
30 |
| Physical characteristics |
| Equatorial diameter |
120,536
km |
| Surface area |
4.38×1010km2 |
| Mass |
5.688×1026kg |
| Mean density |
0.69
g/cm3 |
| Surface gravity |
9.05
m/s2 |
Rotation period
equatorial |
10h 13m
59s |
Rotation period
internal |
10h 39m
25s |
| Axial tilt |
25.33° |
| Albedo |
0.47 |
| Escape Speed |
35.5
km/s |
| Avg. Cloudtop temp. |
93K |
| Surface temp. |
| min |
mean |
max |
| 82K |
143K |
N/AK | |
| Atmospheric characteristics |
| Atmospheric pressure |
140
kPa |
| Hydrogen |
>93% |
| Helium |
>5% |
| Methane |
0.2% |
| Water
vapor |
0.1% |
| Ammonia |
0.01% |
| Ethane |
0.0005% |
| Phosphine |
0.0001% |
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The sixth major
planet of the solar system in order from the Sun. Saturn is
one of the four "gas giants", second in size only to Jupiter.
Its equatorial diameter is 9.4 times the Earth's and its mass
95 times greater. However, its average density is only 0.7
times that of water. Hydrogen and helium make up the bulk of
the mass. There is a central core, ten or fifteen times the
mass of the Earth, made of rock or a mixture of rock and ice.
In the high-pressure region surrounding the core, the hydrogen
takes on the form of a metal. The outer half of the planet
consists of a deep atmosphere; the visible features of the
planet are cloud bands at the top of this atmosphere. The
cloud patterns on Saturn do not normally show much colour
contrast. However, storm activity is occasionally observed. In
late September 1990, a large white spot developed, expanding
over a period of weeks to encircle much of the planet's
equatorial region. This apparent eruption of material from the
lower atmosphere followed a pattern of such occurrences over a
30-year cycle, corresponding to the orbital period. Similar
spots were seen in 1876, 1903, 1933 and 1960, close to
saturnian mid-summer in the northern hemisphere. Less
extensive eruptions occur from time to time. One was observed
by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1994. Computer processing of
images obtained by Voyagers 1 and 2 during their encounters in
1980 and 1981 reveal complex circulation currents, similar to
those observed on Jupiter. Saturn rotates
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rapidly, spinning once every 10 hours 32 minutes on
average, though the rate varies with latitude. The resulting
flattening at the poles is significant; the polar and equatorial
diameters differ by 11 per cent. The most striking feature is the
spectacular ring system. The rings lie in the planet's equatorial
plane, which is tilted at an angle of 27° to its orbit round the
Sun. They are easily visible in a small telescope. As the relative
positions of the Earth and Saturn change, the rings are presented at
differing angles, sometimes appearing open, at other times edge-on
so that they disappear from view. The rings have the appearance of a
series of zones of differing brightness, separated by dark
divisions. The most marked divisions are Cassini's and Encke's. The
Voyager images of the rings showed that they consist of many
thousands of narrow concentric ringlets, resulting in a grooved
appearance. They are only one kilometre thick and are made up of a
huge number of separate rocks and particles, perhaps ranging in size
from a hundred metres down to a micrometre. Before 1980, ten
satellites of Saturn were known. More have been discovered since,
some telescopically in 1980 when the ring system was edge-on (thus
removing the glare) and some by the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft in
1980 and 1981. Eighteen are now known for certain, and there are
probably three others and possibly more, subject to confirmatory
observations.
The original Rasko Jovanovic`s formulation of the "
Titius-Bode Law " is now available. This formulation is that the
mean distance R(k) of the planet from the Sun is :
where k = 1-Mercury, 2- Venus, 3- Earth, 4- Mars, 5-
Planet V, 6- Jupiter, 7- Saturn, 8- Uranus, and 9 -
Pluto;
AUN=7= 1429.4 * 106 km;
M is 1
(Mercury, Venus and Earth), 2 (Mars, Planet V and Jupiter) and 3 (
Saturn, Uranus and Pluto).
R(N=7)=7*bin(7) +7+3
-(1/8)*[1+Ln(1+(1/8))] = 233.8603;
N is the number of the
"Titius - Bode Law " version :
we assume N=7 in version of the
planet-Saturn and the mean distance R(k) of the planet(k) from the
Sun is:
Here are the distances of planets calculated from this rule and
compared with real ones:
| Planet |
k |
bin(k) |
T-B rule distance*106
km |
Real distance*106
km |
| Mercury |
1 |
0 |
60.0482 |
57.91 |
| Venus |
2 |
1 |
102.9235 |
108.208 |
| Earth |
3 |
2 |
145.7582 |
149.597 |
| Mars |
4 |
4 |
231.360 |
227.940 |
| Planet V |
5 |
8 |
402.523 |
- |
| Jupiter |
6 |
16 |
744.822 |
778.33 |
| Saturn |
7 |
32 |
1429.4 |
1429.4 |
| Uranus |
8 |
64 |
2798.541 |
2870.99 |
| Neptune |
9 |
96 |
4167.681 |
4504.3 |
| Pluto |
9 |
128 |
5536.813 |
5913.52 |
THE PROBABLE
LOCATION OF THE PLANET X
The orbit of Pluto have some
unregularities, what induces some astronomers to belive in the
existence of a 10th planet of the Solar System. In accordance to the
Bode's Law, was working out a calculation for location the probable
position of the supposed 10th planet.
R(10)={7*256+ 7+3
-(1/8)[1+(1+Ln(1/11)]}*(1429.4/233.8603) *106 km
PLANET X
The probable distance of the average orbit:
11013.348 * 106 km.
See, also
:
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