PLUTO

Discovered in 1930, Pluto was originally classified as the ninth planet from the Sun. Pluto, formally designated 134340 Pluto, is a large trans-Neptunian object in the Kuiper belt. It is the second-most-massive dwarf planet known in the Solar System (after Eris) and the tenth-most-massive body observed directly orbiting the Sun. 

Pluto is the only world named by an 11-year-old girl, Venetia Burney of Oxford, England, who suggested to her grandfather that it get its name from the Roman god of the underworld. Her grandfather then passed the name on to Lowell Observatory. The name also honors Percival Lowell, whose initials are the first two letters of Pluto.

Pluto, once believed to be the ninth planet, is discovered at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, by astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh.  

The existence of an unknown ninth planet was first proposed by Percival Lowell, who theorized that wobbles in the orbits of Uranus and Neptune were caused by the gravitational pull of an unknown planetary body. Lowell calculated the approximate location of the hypothesized ninth planet and searched for more than a decade without success. 

However, in 1929, using the calculations of Powell and W.H. Pickering as a guide, the search for Pluto was resumed at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona. On February 18, 1930, Tombaugh discovered the tiny, distant planet by use of a new astronomic technique of photographic plates combined with a blink microscope. His finding was confirmed by several other astronomers, and on March 13, 1930--the anniversary of Lowell's birth and of William Hershel's discovery of Uranus--the discovery of Pluto was publicly announced.

With a surface temperature estimated at approximately -360 Fahrenheit, Pluto was appropriately given the Roman name for the god of the underworld in Greek mythology. Pluto's average distance from the sun is nearly four billion miles, and it takes approximately 248 years to complete one orbit. It also has the most elliptical and tilted orbit of any planet, and at its closest point to the sun it passes inside the orbit of Neptune, the eighth planet.


After its discovery, some astronomers questioned whether Pluto had sufficient mass to affect the orbits of Uranus and Neptune. In 1978, James Christy and Robert Harrington discovered Pluto's only known moon, Charon, which was determined to have a diameter of 737 miles to Pluto's 1,428 miles. Together, it was thought that Pluto and Charon formed a double-planet system, which was of ample enough mass to cause wobbles in Uranus' and Neptune's orbits.  

In August 2006, however, the International Astronomical Union announced that Pluto would no longer be considered a planet, due to new rules that said planets must "clear the neighborhood around its orbit." Since Pluto's oblong orbit overlaps that of Neptune, it was disqualified.


Like other Kuiper belt objects, Pluto is composed primarily of rock and ice[14] and is relatively small, approximately one-sixth the mass of the Earth's Moon and one-third its volume. It has an eccentric and highly inclined orbit that takes it from 30 to 49 AU (4.4–7.4 billion km) from the Sun. This causes Pluto to periodically come closer to the Sun than Neptune. As of 2011, it is 32.1 AU from the Sun.

However, its status as a major planet fell into question following further study of it and the outer Solar System over the ensuing 75 years. Starting in 1977 with discovery of minor planet 2060 Chiron, numerous icy objects similar to Pluto with eccentric orbits were found.[15] The most notable of these was the scattered disc object Eris—discovered in 2005, which is 27% more massive than Pluto.[16] The understanding that Pluto is only one of several large icy bodies in the outer Solar System prompted the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to formally define what it means to be a "planet" in 2006. This definition excluded Pluto and reclassified it as a member of the new "dwarf planet" category (and specifically as a plutoid).[17] A number of scientists hold that Pluto should have remained classified as a planet, and that other dwarf planets should be added to the roster of planets along with Pluto.[18][19]


Pluto has five known moons: Charon (the largest, with a diameter just over half that of Pluto), Nix, Hydra,Kerberos, and Styx.[5] Pluto and Charon are sometimes described as a binary system because the barycenter of their orbits does not lie within either body.[20] However, the IAU has yet to formalise a definition for binary dwarf planets, and as such Charon is officially classified as a moon of Pluto.[21]

In 2015, the Pluto system is due to be visited by spacecraft for the first time. The New Horizons probe will perform a flyby during which it will attempt to take detailed measurements and images of the plutoid and its moons.


Pluto's History 

Pluto is the only dwarf planet to once have been considered a major planet. Once thought of as the ninth planet and the one most distant from the sun, Pluto is now seen as one of the largest known members of the Kuiper Belt, a shadowy disk-like zone beyond the orbit of Neptune populated by a trillion or more comets. Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006, a change widely thought of as a demotion that has attracted controversy and debate.


American astronomer Percival Lowell first caught hints of Pluto's existence in 1905 from odd deviations he observed in the orbits of Neptune and Uranus, suggesting that another world's gravity was tugging at them from beyond. He predicted its location in 1915, but died without finding it. Its discovery came in 1930 from Clyde Tombaugh at the Lowell Observatory, based on predictions from Lowell and other astronomers.

Physical Characteristics of the Dwarf Planet Pluto

Since Pluto is so far from Earth, little is known about the planet’s size or surface conditions. Pluto has an estimated diameter less than one-fifth that of Earth or only about two-thirds as wide as Earth's moon. The planets’ surface conditions probably consist of a rocky core surrounded by a mantle of water ice, with more exotic ices such as methane and nitrogen frost coating its surface.


Pluto's orbit is highly eccentric, or far from circular, which means its distance from the sun can vary considerably and at times, Pluto’s orbit will take within the orbit of the planet Neptune. When Pluto is closer to the sun, its surface ices thaw and temporarily form a thin atmosphere, mostly of nitrogen, with some methane. Pluto's low gravity, which is a little more than one-twentieth that of Earth's, causes this atmosphere to extend much higher in altitude than Earth's. When travelling farther away from the Sun, most of Pluto's atmosphere is thought to freeze and all but disappear. Still, in the time that it does have an atmosphere, Pluto can apparently experience strong winds.


Pluto's surface is one of the coldest places in the solar system at roughly minus 375 degrees F (minus 225 degrees C). For a long time, astronomers knew little about its surface because of its distance from Earth, but more is coming, bit by bit, with the Hubble Space Telescope returning images of a planet that appears reddish, yellowish and grayish in places, with a curious bright spot near the equator that might be rich in carbon monoxide frost. When compared with past images, the Hubble pictures revealed that Pluto had apparently grown redder over time, apparently due to seasonal changes.


Pluto's Orbital Characteristics

Pluto's highly elliptical orbit can take it more than 49 times as far out from the sun as Earth. It actually gets closer to the sun than Neptune for 20 years out of Pluto's 248-Earth-years-long orbit, providing astronomers a rare chance to study this small, cold, distant world. So after 20 years as the 8th planet (in order going out from the sun), in 1999, Pluto crossed Neptune's orbit to become the farthest planet from the sun (until it was demoted to the status of dwarf planet).


Composition & Structure

Atmospheric composition: Methane, nitrogen

Magnetic Field: It remains unknown whether Pluto has a magnetic field, but its small size and slow rotation suggest it has little to none.

Chemical composition: Probably a mixture of 70 percent rock and 30 percent water ice.

Internal structure: Probably a rocky core surrounded by a mantle of water ice, with more exotic ices such as methane and nitrogen frost coating its surface.


Orbit & Rotation

Average Distance from the Sun: 3,670,050,000 miles (5,906,380,000 km)

By Comparison: 39.482 times that of Earth

Perihelion (closest): 2,756,902,000 miles (4,436,820,000 km)

By Comparison: 30.171 times that of Earth

Aphelion (farthest): 4,583,190,000 miles (7,375,930,000 km)

By Comparison: 48.481 times that of Earth (Source: NASA)

Pluto's Moons

In 1978, astronomers discovered Pluto had a very large moon nearly half its size, dubbed Charon, named for the mythological demon who ferried souls to the underworld in Greek mythology. The huge size of Charon sometimes leads scientists to refer to Pluto and Charon as a double dwarf planet or binary system.

Pluto and Charon are just 12,200 miles (19,640 kilometers) apart, less than the distance by flight between London and Sydney. Charon's orbit around Pluto takes 6.4 Earth days, and one Pluto rotation — a Pluto day — also takes 6.4 Earth days. This is because Charon hovers over the same spot on Pluto's surface, and the same side of Charon always faces Pluto, a phenomenon known as tidal locking.

While Pluto appears reddish, Charon seems grayish. Scientists suggest Pluto is covered with nitrogen and methane while Charon is covered with ordinary water ice.

Compared with most of solar system's planets and moons, the Pluto-Charon system is tipped on its side in relation to the sun. Also, Pluto's rotation is retrograde compared to the other worlds — it spins backwards, from east to west.

In 2005, as scientists photographed Pluto with the Hubble Space Telescope in preparation for the New Horizons mission — the first spacecraft to visit Pluto and the Kuiper Belt — they discovered two other tiny moons of Pluto, now dubbed Nix and Hydra. These are two to three times farther away from Pluto than Charon, and they are thought to be just 31 to 62 miles (50 to 100 kilometers) wide.

Scientists using Hubble discovered a fourth moon in 2011. This moon is estimated to be 8 to 21 miles (13 to 34 km) in diameter. P4's orbit is between the orbits of Nix and Hydra. On July 11, 2012, a fifth moon was discovered.

Research & Exploration of the Dwarf Planet

Pluto's distance from Earth has made it hard to see with telescopes and a daunting challenge to explore with spacecraft — NASA's New Horizonsmission will be the first probe to study Pluto, its moons, and other worlds within the Kuiper Belt. It was launched on January 2006, making its closest approach to Pluto on July 2015, and carries some of the ashes of Pluto's discoverer, Clyde Tombaugh.

Pluto's Formation & Origins

The leading theory for the formation of Pluto and Charon is that a nascent Pluto was struck with a glancing blow by another Pluto-sized object. Most of the combined matter became Pluto, while the rest spun off to become Charon.

NEPTUNE

If you look up into the sky at night, and if you know where to look, you can see the planet Uranus with the naked eye. At its brightest it shines at about +5 magnitude. You cannot see Neptune with the naked eye. 

Neptune was formed around 4.5 billion years ago, along with the other planets in the solar system. Neptune is the fourth largest planet, after Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. Almost identical in size to Uranus, its sister planet, Neptune was formed, along with the other planets, from the primordial Solar Nebula. While the larger planets (Jupiter and Saturn) received the lion's share of the nebula's hydrogen and helium, Uranus and Neptune appear to have received only rock and ice

It was first recorded with a telescope by Galileo in 1613, while it was conjunct the planet Saturn. He logged it into his notebook as an 8th magnitude star.

Neptune was the first planet found by mathematical prediction rather than by empirical observation. Neptune was again sighted by a French astronomer, Joseph Lalande, during the French Revolution (May 8 & 10, 1795).

In 1854, a young mathematician named John Couch Adams (1819-1892), doing calculations on the perturbation of the orbit of Uranus, discovered the planet. Around the same time, a French scientist, Urbain Jean Joseph Leverrier (1811-1877), also published findings that an eighth planet had been discovered.

Neptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third-largest by mass. Among the gaseous planets in the solar system, Neptune is the most dense. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus, which is 15 times the mass of Earth but not as dense.[c] On average, Neptune orbits the Sun at a distance of 30.1 AU, approximately 30 times the Earth–Sun distance. Named for the Roman god of the sea, its astronomical symbolis ♆, a stylised version of the god Neptune's trident.

Unexpected changes in the orbit of Uranus led Alexis Bouvard to deduce that its orbit was subject to gravitationalperturbation by an unknown planet. Neptune was subsequently observed on 23 September 1846[1] by Johann Galle within a degree of the position predicted by Urbain Le Verrier, and its largest moon, Triton, was discovered shortly thereafter, though none of the planet's remaining 13 moons were located telescopically until the 20th century. Neptune has been visited by only one spacecraft, Voyager 2, which flew by the planet on 25 August 1989.Today, drawing on data from the Voyager II scientific probe, we know much more about Neptune than we ever have before. Its appearance, from out a few million miles looks like a soft blue jewel hanging in the sky with a few white cirrus clouds flying across its surface. Its diameter is some 50,000 kilometers (where the Earth’s is 12,756 kilometers), and its mass is 17 times that of the Earth. Neptune is a big planet.

Neptune is similar in composition to Uranus, and both have compositions which differ from those of the largergas giants, Jupiter, and Saturn. Neptune's atmosphere, while similar to Jupiter's and Saturn's in that it is composed primarily of hydrogen and helium, along with traces of hydrocarbons and possibly nitrogen, contains a higher proportion of "ices" such as water, ammonia, and methane. Astronomers sometimes categorise Uranus and Neptune as "ice giants" in order to emphasise these distinctions.[10] The interior of Neptune, like that of Uranus, is primarily composed of ices and rock.[11] It is possible that the core has a solid surface, but the temperature would be thousands of degrees and the atmospheric pressure crushing.[12] Traces of methane in the outermost regions in part account for the planet's blue appearance.[13]

In contrast to the hazy, relatively featureless atmosphere of Uranus, Neptune's atmosphere is notable for its active and visible weather patterns. For example, at the time of the 1989 Voyager 2 flyby, the planet's southern hemisphere possessed a Great Dark Spot comparable to the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. These weather patterns are driven by the strongest sustained winds of any planet in the Solar System, with recorded wind speeds as high as 2,100 kilometres per hour (1,300 mph).[14] Because of its great distance from the Sun, Neptune's outer atmosphere is one of the coldest places in the Solar System, with temperatures at its cloud tops approaching 55 K (−218 °C). Temperatures at the planet's centre are approximately 5,400 K(5,000 °C).[15][16] Neptune has a faint and fragmented ring system (labeled 'arcs'), which may have been detected during the 1960s but was only indisputably confirmed in 1989 by Voyager 2.[17]Has Neptune exerted an astrological influence all those thousands of years that it was unknown? Probably. Must a body be seeable with the naked eye to exert an influence? When the broken reactor at Chernobyl in the Ukraine spewed out deadly gamma rays, no one saw them. The unseen radioactivity was there, nevertheless, and people died from it, some very swiftly.

Like Pluto and Eris, and like possible planets beyond, Neptune exerts an influence, and always has. This influence can be traced deep into our historical past. We now know it is there and perhaps that knowledge is deepening our understanding of astrology. Its influence is quite powerful, especially when it is found in a synodic configuration.

The power of Neptune is subtle in its influence on world events. Normally, in order to effect change, straight direct force is required. This is what war is about: Armies march and conquer. Rome built an empire that lasted millennia, and built it with Martian and Scorpionic energy—straight direct force.

Ptolemy, who transported astrology to its highest level in antiquity, exalted Mars in the constellation of Capricorn. This exaltation exists today in the astrological sign of Capricorn and it is one of the specious areas of astrology, one that needs work, badly. In Ptolemy’s era, when Mars was found in the constellation of Capricorn, it was symbolic of the warrior who made his own law on the battlefield. This is what war is about.

The Neptune influence works quite differently.

Much astrology focuses on the negative side of Neptune—the drugs, the escapism, the lies and calumnies, the sleaziness, the ungroundedness. It has been called “malefic”, though I don’t know if Ptolemy would have termed it such.

Neptune exerts a feminine, quiet force; its psychological and spiritual power is to forgive, to dissolve all bitterness and grievance, to dissolve the barriers to love. Its affinity is with the power of love, its implement is forgiveness, and its result is oneness.

Its energies have often been misused. In the middle Ages, tens of thousands of children gathered together in a mass and made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. This was called the Children’s Crusade and was a Neptunian manifestation. When the remnants of the children appeared in the Saracen lands, they were promptly sold into slavery. The October Revolution in Russia began as a great idealistic movement to wipe out centuries of injustice and oppression; it ended in 1991 by the outlawing of the Communist Party. The McCarthy years in America were a Neptunian manifestation.

When the power of Neptune is raised to a very high level, miracles can occur. Neptune functions within the Law of Non-Resistance. This is a principle not discussed very often. The Law embodies the principle of water eroding rock, of the tree bending to the wind. “Resist not evil,” says scripture. Resist not, teaches the archetypal energy of Neptune, for whatever your resist, you become. Neptune has the power to transmute the world through application of the Law of Non-Resistance.

Neptune’s influence acts so as to dissolve, to transmute, to alchemically change one energy into another. Its influence works to align the energies of the earth and its inhabitants therein to stellar, galactic, and other cosmic influences, acting as a force for evolution and growth. It enables the soul to grow by the process of transubstantiation, wherein it evolves from the density of matter into ever increasing levels of light.

We live in a free will universe. If we so will, this call to a deeper understanding of all the realms can be resisted. This resistance comes through the agency called ego. Neptune works to dissolve the power of ego. Mass movements that lead to confusion and sadness and unbelief are often governed by the Neptune influence. Yet still they have a value, namely, to dissolve hardened points of egocentric consciousness.

Neptune, in its higher manifestations, always leads to a deepening of the spiritual states of peace, of love, of oneness with the light, of oneness with all life. Those with a concentrated Neptune energy in their charts, in their oneness, feel the joy and the suffering of others. They possess a special sensitivity to music and the arts. This sensitivity, which is often very loving, can transport them into a nirvana or oneness with God.

As a power, its function always works best when it is employed as non-resistance. It is the sapling whose roots are sunk deep into the earth; when it is blown to the ground by the furious wind, it springs up when the wind is spent. This energy works in a like manner: It urges one to the principle of non-resistance, to non-contention, to oneness.

Neptune can work positively to balance disparate forces in a people. At the onset of Eisenhower’s presidency, the Saturn/Neptune conjunction signaled a time when the world had the choice to return to a relative condition of peace. Perhaps this conjunction signaled the beginning of a period of a massive shift to a higher consciousness on the planet.

In the Soviet Union, it heralded the death of a collective ego that had lasted for almost a millennium. This was the time when Joseph Stalin died. The breakdown of collective ego would take another Saturn cycle (thirty years) to manifest clearly to everyone from its quiet beginnings.

When Neptune force is misused, as Senator McCarthy misused it, this quiet force has the tendency to reflect back on its abuser. Its effect can be devastating. Senator McCarthy destroyed himself with alcohol. That was a Neptune manifestation. President Eisenhower was able to direct Neptune energy to bring about the changes he felt were needed in a way that was effective, secret and non-resistant. Notice, however, that he did not receive much credit for his achievements while he was president or even while he was alive. That had to be “sacrificed” to the needs of the collective unconscious transformation occurring on the planet.

I will discuss Neptune in more depth when I examine how the planet functions in synod. That includes Pluto/Neptune, Uranus/Neptune and Saturn/Neptune and this about Abraham Lincoln.

URANUS ( HERSCHEL )

Uranus was the first planet to be discovered with a telescope. The third of the gas giants. Uranus was discovered in 1781 by Caroline Herschel and her brother William in 1781.William thought it was a comet at first and his calculations showed it getting bigger and bigger as he thought it approached the Earth. When observations and calculations from other astronomers in different countries came in, it was realized by them all that the Herschels had discovered a planet, and William hastily revised his data.

Some wanted to call the planet Herschel, but the Herschels called it Georgius Sidus (George's Star in Latin) after King George III who funded them. Bode suggested Uranus after the Greek God of the Heavens who had been castrated by his son Chronos the God of Time (see Saturn). Eventually this was to be accepted internationally as the planet's name.


GENDER: Masculine
USAGE: Greek Mythology (Latinized)
OTHER SCRIPTS: Ουρανος (Ancient Greek)
PRONOUNCED: yuw-RAY-nəs (English), YUWR-ən-əs (English) [key]

Meaning & History

From Greek Ουρανος (Ouranos), the name of the husband of Gaia and the father of the Titans in Greek mythology. His name is derived from ουρανος(ouranos) meaning "the heavens". This is also the name of the seventh planet in the solar system.

Uranus is the seventh planet furthest away from the Sun and it is named after the Greek god of the sky Uranus. Uranus is one of the ice giant categories of planet and it can sometimes be viewed in the night sky by the naked eye. Uranus looks like a calm, cold planet by virtue of its light blue coloring – it is certainly cold (the coldest in the solar system), but it is not calm.


The planet has had a very spectacular history. At some point in its history the planetary rotation of Uranus completely changed. Initially it will likely have rotated in a similar way to the rest of the planets in our solar system but an event occurred that made the rotation shift so that Uranus now spins on its side so rather than spinning in the same way that a spinning top would do, the planet rotates more like a ball rolling on its side.


For more fascinating facts about Uranus, read on.
The mass of Uranus is 14.5 times that of the Earth, its diameter is just 4.01 times larger than our Earth and Uranus is 2.9 billion kilometres from the Sun.

Uranus orbits the Sun once every 84.04 Earth years and completes a full rotation every 17.2 hours.

The basic composition of Uranus is similar to the other giant gas planets in our solar system with mostly hydrogen (about 80%) and helium (about 15%) present. The remainder is methane and a mixture of hydrocarbons.

The bluely green colour of Uranus is caused due to the methane in the atmosphere. This absorbs red light so the reflected sunlight is greenish blue in colour.


Uranus has a planetary ring system like Saturn but not as clear and much thinner. Currently it is understood that there are 13 rings in existence that are made up of small rocky particles.
Unusually Uranus gives off less heat than it actually absorbs from the Sun. This is because something in the history of Uranus made the planets core cool down and this means that it doesn’t radiate much heat leading to Uranus taking the prize of the coldest planet in our solar system with temperatures as low as -224 °C.

The wind speeds on Uranus can reach up to 824km / hour.Uranus has an axial tilt of 97.77 degrees. In other words it rotates on its side rather than on its axis as is the case with the other planets. There are two main theories explaining why Uranus may have such a strange rotation. The first and most accepted theory is that during the formation of the solar system an Earth sized planet smashed into Uranus permanently knocking it off its axis. The other theory is that billions of years ago another planet pulled a large moon away from Uranus and the gravitational pull caused Uranus to be knocked off its axis.


Moons of Uranus 

Uranus currently has 27 known moons. 27 satellites discovered so far. The Herschels started the custom of naming the moons of Uranus after fairies and other characters in Shakespeare's plays, with Titania and Oberon. The other larger satellites are Ariel, Umbriel, Miranda. Those discovered by Voyager 2 in 1986 have been named Cordelia, Orphelia, Bianca, Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Belinda, and Puck. Satellite discovered 2001 has been named Trinculo. Satellites discovered in 2003, have now been named Cupid and Mab.

The five main moons are called

a) Ariel,  
b) Miranda, 
c) Oberon, 
d) Titania and 
e) Umbriel.


Ariel, 579±2 kilometres radius, 1.66±0.30 density. Ariel was discovered in 1851 by William Lassell. It is still very active geologically, so few impact craters are visible. Its features are named after good spirits in world myths. Valley and fault scarps crisscross the surface, which has been smoothly flooded in places with ice. There has been tectonic activity with plate movement causing the faults on the surface. Ariel may still be an active world.


Miranda is 236±3 kilometres in radius, 1.35±0.39 density. It was discovered in 1948 by Gerard Kuiper. It has a very mixed and interesting terrain of ice, silicate rocks and frozen methane. The names of surface features are taken from Shakespeare. There are grooved landscapes, cratered like on our Moon, and also giant scarps or cliffs. There are three massive, prominent angled, ridged features. These are called the Inverness Corona, the Arden Corona and the Elsinore Corona. It is speculated that Miranda had once been severely fractured, and has since reassembled, the features being caused by the fragments. This is by no means certain though.


Oberon was also discovered by Caroline and William Herschel in 1787. Its radius is 762±4 kilometres. Its density is 1.58±0.10. Its features are named after Shakespearian heros. Oberon is mostly water ice, silicates and methane with other carbon related compounds. Its surface is heavily cratered with possible faults - there is no evidence of any recent geological activity.


Titania is 790±4 kilometres in radius, density is 1.68±0.09. Discovered by the Herschels in 1787. Its features are named after female characters in Shakespeare. Subsidence features and trenches and scarps show that Titania has has volcanic processes, perhaps caused by tidal heating, and has been an active world geologically.


Umbriel is 586±5 kilometres in radius, 1.51±0.28 density. Also discovered in 1851 by William Lassell. Its features are named after evil spirits. Umbriel is a very dark, still, world with many craters. Nothing has happened here for a very long time.
More on Cupid, Mab and the rings - dust from Mab forms one of the rings.

Rings of Uranus

Like the other gas giants, Uranus is surrounded by rings of small particles. They are very dark, and like Saturn's rings "shepherded" by tiny satellites. Nine of the rings were first discovered in 1977. (After which some astronomers wished it was not called Uranus and tried to pronounce it differently, while others enjoyed the joke). Two more rings were discovered in 1986 by Voyager 2 and more since - 12 so far.

It is possible the rings were first discovered 200 years earlier in 1727 by Herschel, (which might explain why he did not want the planet named after him).

New edge on view of the rings of Uranus from Hubble in 2007.

Orbit of Uranus

The orbit of Uranus round the Sun takes about 84 years, which is why, although it had been seen many times earlier (it is not only visible through a small telescope but to the naked eye) it had not been recognised before as another planet. The diameter of Uranus is about 52,000 kilometres. Its rotation is 17.3 hours, but as the inclination of its axis is 98 degrees, that is, it is on its side pointing down, do it looks like it rotates backwards. As it rolls along first one pole then the other pole faces the Sun.

Appearance of Uranus

Uranus looks blue in colour with not very distinct bands of cloud. On top of the clouds its temperature is 60K. There are storm clouds and vortices. Small white fluffy clouds on top of the blue bands of clouds were used to measure the speed of jet streams in the upper atmosphere which is 100 metres a second. (On Earth the jet streams are 40 metres a second). The winds are blowing in the same direction as the planet's rotation. On such a low axis this means the heat from the Sun is distributed all over the planet evenly. It does not have colder poles as on Earth.

In August 1994 Hubble took pictures of Uranus and found more interesting weather. The planet's angle to the Sun had changed as it had moved on its orbit. Unlike the other gas giants, Uranus does not have an internal heat source, so its changes in weather dependent far more on the effect of the Sun.

The poles of Uranus' magnetic field are offset from the axis of rotation by 60 degrees. This was used to calculate the rotation period of 17.3 hours. The 'magnetail' trailing behind Uranus corkscrews because of the tremendous difference between the magnetic and rotational poles.Due to Uranus having an unusual axis, this affects the seasons on the planet dramatically. For example, one of the poles on Uranus is usually pointed at the Sun so this means that although an Earth day on Uranus would only typically last 17.2 hours, if you were sat at the North Pole of Uranus a day would last 84 Earth years

Bonus fun facts

Uranus is the coldest planet in the solar system.
Uranus rotates on its side rather than every other planet that rotates (roughly) on its axis.

RAHU AND KETHU - NODES

Basic Astronomical facts about Rahu and Ketu:
Astronomically (as per Hindu Astrology), Rahu and Ketu denote the two points of intersection of the paths of the Sun and the Moon as they move around the celestial sphere. Therefore, Rahu and Ketu are respectively called the north and the south lunar nodes. The fact that eclipses occur when Sun and Moon are at one of these points gives rise to the myth of the swallowing of the Sun.

The Rahu and Ketu in Hindu Mythology
The Rahu is the son of Viprachitti and his wife Simhika, the sister of Prahlada. the devotee of Lord Vishnu. Ketu is the dismembered body of which Rahu is the head. The demi gods or the Devas were losing their glory and power due to a curse by sage Durvasas and the king of Devas the mighty Indra has lost his kingdom, the heaven to Asuras or the devils. The Devas approached supreme father, and creator or universe, Lord Brahma for help, who guided them to Lord Vishnu, the preserver of universe. Lord Vishnu made a plan and suggested Devas to approach the Asuras and ask them for their co operation in churning the mighty ocean to obtain amrita, the nectar of immortality, which Devas and Asuras can divide among themselves and can become immortal. The Devas approached Asuras who agreed as this task required combined efforts of both Devas and Asuras. They started churning using Mount Mandara as a rod and the Serpent Vasuki as a rope. Lord Vishnu incarnated as a Tortoise to hold up the mountain on his back. As the churning of the ocean started several things energed as a result, starting with poison Halahala which threatened to destroy all the universe but Lord Shiva kept it in his throat, without swallowing it. Kamadhenu, the wish-fulfilling cow, celestial horse Ucchaishravas, Airavata, the celestial elephant, the Kausthubha gem, the Parijataka (wish-fulfilling tree), Apsaras, the beautiful celestials maids, Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, Varuni, the goddess of liquor appeared one by one. Finally Dhanvantari, the god of medicine, appeared holding the pot of amrita. The Asuras forcefully snatched it, and refused to give it to Devas. Lord Vishnu then incarnated as Mohini, the enchantress, the most beautiful female form in the universe. Devas knew this plan and controlled themselves but the Asuras were overwhelmed with lust for her and agreed to her decision for distribution of nectar as per her rules. She asked all the Devas and Asuras to sit in a line and started distributing nectar first to Devas. Rahu disguised himself as one of the Devas and sat between the Sun and Moon gods, who recognized him and told Vishnu who was in the form of Mohini. Lord Vishnu severed Rahu's head with his discus, the sudarshan charka but not before he managed to drink a drop of the nectar and become immortal. Thus his Head and Body become separate but both become immortal as separate entity due to nectar. The Head is known as Rahu and the headless body is the Ketu. Since then Rahu and Ketu constantly chase Sun and Moon for revenge for they are the cause of separating head and body of the devil Rahu. And when they succeed catching Sun and Moon they swallow them causing Solar or Lunar eclipse but they cant hold them for long and Sun and Moon emerges again intact as they also had nectar and are immortal.

Basic Astrological facts about the Rahu and Ketu:
The Rahu is of feminine and Ketu is of neuter gender, Rahu is the karaka or significator of spiritual knowledge and Ketu is the karaka or significator of Moksha or the final liberation, as relationship significator Rahu governs maternal grandparents and Ketu denotes paternal grandparents. Their temperament is erratic and unpredictable and Rahu belongs to vaayu or air element and Ketu belongs to agni or fire element, their primary quality or guna is tamo or dull or ignorant, by caste they are outcaste, not fit to be a part of normal society and their nature is malefic.

Rahu and Ketu dose not have rulership of any zodiacal signs. Rahu get exalted in the sign of Taurus and its debilitation sign is Scorpio and Ketu get exalted in the sign of Scorpio and its debilitation sign is Taurus. As per planetary relationship Rahu and Ketu are friends are Venus, Mars and Saturn, it is neutral with Jupiter and Mercury and its enemies are Sun and Moon. Nakshatras or Lunar mansions governed by Rahu are Ardra, Swati and Satabhisha. Nakshatras or Lunar mansions governed by Ketu are Ashwini, Magha and Mula. Rahu’s period as per Vimshottari Dasa is of eighteen years and that of Ketu is seven years. They rules southwest direction and in metals Rahu and Ketu rules lead and gemstone of Rahu is hessonite or gomed and its substitute gemstone is agate. Gemstone for Ketu is Cat’s eye and its substitute gemstone is turquoise. color ruled by it. In food and flavors they governs leftovers and inedible foods and foul taste. Positive key words for Rahu are Originality, independence, insight, inspiration and imagination. Negative key words for Rahu are confusion, deception, illusion, addiction and neurosis. Positive key words for Ketu are idealism, self-sacrifice, spirituality, intuition and compassion. Negative key words for Ketu are fanaticism, eccentricity, violence, amorality and impulsiveness. As per Numerology, numbers 4, 13, 22, 31 and all those that adds up to four, are governed by Rahu and numbers 7, 16, 25, 34 and all those that adds up to seven, are governed by Ketu.

Body parts, function and diseases governed Rahu and Ketu:
Epidemics, insanity, skin diseases, poisoning of all types.

Professions governed by Rahu and Ketu:
As Rahu acts like Saturn and Ketu like Mars, generally they rules the profession signified by these planets, but apart from this they signifies profession related to occult arts, magic. Rahu or Dragons Head or North Node represents, foreigners, foreign countries, foreign travel, engineering and the technical trades, gambling dens, the underworld and the bad elements in the society. Ketu or Dragons Tail or South Node represents technical trades, spiritual inclinations, superstitions and electronics.

The Mantras for Rahu:

Beej Mantra of Rahu:	Om bhraam bhreem bhraum sah rahave namah
Rahu stotra:	Ardha kaayam maha veeryam chandraditya vimardanam simhika garbha sambhutam tam rahum pranamamy aham
Gayatri Mantra of Rahu:	Om naaka dhwajaaya vidmahae padma hastaaya dheemahi tanno raahu prachodayaat

Remedies for Rahu which are performed if Rahu is not well placed in the horoscope:

1.    Worshiping of Bhairava or lord Shiva.

2.    Recitation of Kalabhairav asthakam.

3.    Reciting of Rahu Mantras.

4.    Charity: Donate blue clothes, blankets, urad dal (Horse Bean) or coconut on Saturdays to beggars.

5.    Fasting: On Saturdays.

6.    Pooja: Bhairav or Shiva pooja.

7.    Rudraksh: Wear eight mukhi (eight faced) Rudraksh.

The Mantras for Ketu:

Beej Mantra of Ketu:	Om Sraam Sreem Sraum Sah Ketave Nama
Ketu stotra:	Palasha puspa sangasham taraka graha mastakam raudram raudratmakam ghoram tam ketum pranamamyaham
Gayatri Mantra of Ketu:	Om aswadhwajaaya vidmahae soola hastaaya dheemahi tanno ketu prachodayaat

Remedies for Ketu which are performed if Ketu is not well placed in the horoscope:

1.    Worshiping of Lord Ganesha.

2.    Recitation of Ganesha Dwadasanama Stotra.

3.    Reciting of Ketu Mantras.

4.    Charity: Donate brown cloths, blanket, black mustard seeds to beggars and feed black dog on Thursdays.

5.    Fasting: On Thursdays.

6.    Pooja: Ganesh pooja.

7.    Rudraksh: Wear nine mukhi (nine faced) Rudraksh.

Rahu (North Node) Ketu (South Node) :
Rahu Ketu Are Shadow Planets & not Real Planets

Rahu

It shows research studies, big machines, their manufacturers or trade, leather goods nuclear setups, knowledge of import and poisonous drugs. It has special tang for everything foreign.

Ketu

It indicates computers, exports, mathematics, statistician, high accuracy small machines spiritualism, terrorism and trading of animals or their body parts.

SATURN - THE LIFE SPAN

Where you wondering how did Saturn get its name?

Like all of the planets, Saturn is named after a character in Roman mythology. Saturn’s name comes from the Roman god Saturnus, the god of agriculture and harvest , who is equivalent to the ancient Greek deity Cronus, one of the Titans and the father of Zeus (the Roman god Jupiter) and the Babylonian Ninurta.  Saturn's symbol represents the god's sickle (Unicode: ♄). The day in the week Saturday gets its name from the planet.

In Roman mythology, Saturnus carried a sickle in one hand and wheat in the other and was the son of Helen and the father of Jupiter. Saturn has had several names.

Were you wondering who discovered Saturn? Well, nobody knows. Here’s the problem. So perhaps a better question might be to ask, when did astronomers realize that Saturn was a planet?

Saturn is easily visible in the night sky with the unaided eye as a non-twinkling point of light, so it’s hard to say when the planet was first discovered. In fact, if you’re seeing a bright star in the sky, there’s a good chance it’s Saturn. It takes a telescope to see the rings, but anybody can find Saturn, even in a bright city.

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. The second largest planet of the solar system in mass and size and the sixth in distance from the Sun. 

Saturn is a gas giant with an average radius about nine times that of Earth. While only one-eighth the average density of Earth, with its larger volume Saturn is just over 95 times more massive than Earth.

The first person to actually look at Saturn in a telescope was Galileo. He saw a strange oval-shaped planet. He thought the planet might have ears, or two small balls on either side. Later observations showed that these were actually Saturn’s grand ring system. Galileo also discovered Saturn’s moon Titan.

When viewed through even a small telescope, the planet, encircled by its magnificent rings, is arguably the most sublime object in the solar system. The ancient astronomers believed in the geocentric model of the Universe. The Earth was at the center of the Universe, and everything else orbited around it in crystal shells: the Sun, the Moon, the planets and the stars. One problem with this model was the strange movements of the planets. They would sometimes slow down, stop and even travel backwards in the sky. And to explain this, astronomers had to create elaborate models for the planets where the orbited inside spheres within spheres.

Anyway, this model was turned on its ear by Nicolas Copernicus in the 1500s. He placed the Sun at the center of the Solar System, and had all the planets orbiting around it. This nicely explained the strange movements of the planets. They weren’t going backwards, it was just a change in perspective, since the Earth is also going around the Sun.

Better observations of Saturn by Giovanni Cassini turned up 4 additional moons of Saturn, as well a division in the rings that would later be named after him: the Cassini division.

But it wouldn’t be until 1979 that the first spacecraft flew past Saturn. NASA’s Pioneer 11 spacecraft made the journey, getting within 20,000 km of the planet’s cloud tops. This was followed by the Voyager spacecraft, and eventually NASA’s Cassini spacecraft that’s orbiting the planet today. All of our best images of Saturn were sent back by orbiting spacecraft.

Nobody realized the planet had rings until Galileo first turned his rudimentary telescope on the planet in 1610. Of course, Galileo didn’t realize what he was looking at, and thought the rings were large moons on either side of the planet.

It wasn’t until Christian Huygens used a better telescope to see that they were actually rings. Huygens was also the first to discover Saturn’s largest moon Titan.

Jean-Domanique Cassini uncovered the gap in Saturn’s rings, later named the Cassini Division, and he was the first to see 4 more of Saturn’s moons: Iapetus, Rhea, Tethys, and Dione.

There weren’t many more major discoveries about Saturn until the spacecraft flybys in the 70s and 80s. NASA’s Pioneer 11 was the first spacecraft to visit Saturn, getting within 20,000 km of the planet’s cloud layers. It was followed by Voyager 1 in 1980, and Voyager 2 in August 1981.

It wasn’t until July 2004 that NASA’s Cassini spacecraft arrived at Saturn, and began the most detailed exploration of the system. Cassini has performed multiple flybys of many of Saturn’s moons, and sent back thousands of images of the planet and its moons. It has discovered 4 new moons, a new ring, and saw liquid hydrocarbon seas on Titan.

The Saturn in Hindu Mythology

Saturn is tall, black, long-limbed, and emaciated, with reddish-brown eyes, large teeth and nails, prominent veins, a sunken stomach, a long beard, matted locks, and stiff body. He is lame and his limbs are rigid; intensely harsh, he is cruel in authority, and his gaze is utterly terrifying. Saturn is the son of the Sun and his wife's Chaaya (shadow) and is the brother of Yama, the god of righteousness and death. As soon as Saturn was born, his gaze fell on his father and caused vitiligo; his gaze next fell on the Sun's charioteer, who fell and broke his thigh; and next upon the seven horses of his chariot they all went stone blind. The Sun tried a number of remedies but nothing worked. It was only when Saturn's gaze left them that the Sun's skin cleared, his charioteer's femur healed, and his horses regained their sight. Saturn became a planet after performing penance in Benaras and propitiating Lord Shiva. When Shiva's son Ganesha was born, his mother Parvati wanted to show the boy to Saturn. Saturn politely advised her not to do so, but when she insisted, he gazed at the child reluctantly with only one eye. Instantly Ganesha's head was reduced to ashes. To prevent Parvati in her anger from destroying the universe, Lord Vishnu cut off head of a bull elephant and joined it to Ganesha's body. Saturn is the lord of longevity, death, justice and time. Even King Indra and all the gods panic when Saturn is nearby, for over the ages many thousands of Indras have been overtaken by the power of time. 

Basic Astrological facts about Saturn:

The Saturn is of neuter gender, karaka or significator of grief and misfortune, as relationship significator it denotes subordinates, as body part significator it governs the thighs. As per planetary cabinet it have the status of servant, its temperament is cruel, insensitive and harsh, its element is vaayu or air, its primary quality or guna is tamo or dull or ignorant, by caste it is shudra or lower caste and its nature is malefic.

It is the ruler of zodiacal signs of Capricorn and Aquarius and astrological tenth and eleventh houses, its exaltation sign is Libra, debilitation sign is Aries and determent sign is Leo. It get directional strength in seventh house (west) and directional weakness in first house (east). As per planetary relationship its friends are Mercury and Venus, it is neutral with Jupiter and its enemies are Sun, Moon and Mars. Nakshatras or Lunar mansions governed by Saturn are Pushya, Anuradha and Uttara Bhadrapada. Its period as per Vimshottari Dasa is of nineteen years. It rules west direction and Saturday among the days of the week. It governs shishir or winter season and in metals iron and lead. Its gemstone is blue sapphire and substitute gemstones is lapis lazuli and black and blue are the color ruled by it. In food and flavors it governs things of astringent taste. It represents the geometrical shape of a window with four panes. Positive key words for Saturn are experience, patience, humility, wisdom, and compassion. Negative key words for Saturn are testing, sorrow, delay, disappointment, and limitation. As per Numerology numbers 8, 17, 26, 35 and all those that adds up to eight, are governed by it.
 

Physical Characteristics of the Planet Saturn

As the farthest of the planets known to ancient observers, Saturn also was noted to be the slowest-moving. At a distance from the Sun that is 9.5 times as far as Earth’s, Saturn takes approximately 29.5 Earth years to make one solar revolution. The Italian astronomer Galileo in 1610 was the first to observe Saturn with a telescope. Although he saw a strangeness in Saturn’s appearance, the low resolution of his instrument did not allow him to discern the true nature of the planet’s rings.

Saturn is a gas giant made up mostly of hydrogen and helium. Saturn is the second largest planet, big enough to hold more than 760 Earths, and is more massive than any other planet except Jupiter, roughly 95 times Earth's mass. However, Saturn has the lowest density of all the planets, and is the only one less dense than water — if there were a bathtub big enough to hold it, Saturn would float on top.

Although the other gas giants in the solar system — Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune — also have rings, those of Saturn are without a doubt the most extraordinary. The largest one to date spans up to 200 times the diameter of the planet.

Saturn is the farthest planet from Earth visible to the naked human eye. The yellow and gold bands seen in the planet's atmosphere are the result of super-fast winds in the upper atmosphere, which can reach up to 1,100 miles per hour (1,800 kilometers per hour) around its equator, combined with heat rising from the planet's interior.

Saturn spins faster than any other planet except Jupiter, completing a rotation roughly every 10-and-a-half hours. This rapid spinning causes Saturn to bulge at its equator and flatten at its poles — the planet is 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometers) wider at its equator than between the poles.

Saturn's most recent curiosity may be the giant hexagon circling its north pole, with each of its sides nearly 7,500 miles (12,500 kilometers) across — big enough to fit nearly four Earths inside. Thermal images show it reaches some 60 miles (100 kilometers) down into the planet's atmosphere. It remains uncertain what causes it.

Saturn occupies almost 60 percent of Jupiter’s volume but has only about one-third of its mass and the lowest mean density—about 70 percent that of water—of any known object in the solar system. Hypothetically, Saturn would float in an ocean large enough to hold it. Both Saturn and Jupiter resemble stars in that their bulk chemical composition is dominated by hydrogen. Also, as is the case for Jupiter, the tremendous pressure in Saturn’s deep interior maintains the hydrogen there in a fluid metallic state. Saturn’s structure and evolutionary history, however, differ significantly from those of its larger counterpart. Like the other giant, or Jovian, planets—Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune—Saturn has extensive systems of moons (natural satellites) and rings, which may provide clues to its origin and evolution as well as to those of the solar system. Saturn’s moon Titan is distinguished from all other moons in the solar system by the presence of a significant atmosphere, one that is denser than that of any of the terrestrial planets except Venus.

The greatest advances in knowledge of Saturn, as well as of most of the other planets, have come from deep-space probes. Four spacecraft have visited the Saturnian system: Pioneer 11 in 1979,Voyagers 1 and 2 in the two years following, and, after almost a quarter-century, Cassini-Huygens, which arrived in 2004. The first three missions were short-term flybys, but Cassini went into orbit around Saturn for years of investigations, while its Huygens probe parachuted through the atmosphere of Titan and reached its surface, becoming the first spacecraft to land on a moon other than Earth’s.Saturn's interior is probably composed of a core of iron, nickel and rock (silicon and oxygen compounds), surrounded by a deep layer of metallic hydrogen, an intermediate layer of liquid hydrogenand liquid helium and an outer gaseous layer. 
The planet exhibits a pale yellow hue due to ammonia crystals in its upper atmosphere. Electrical current within the metallic hydrogen layer is thought to give rise to Saturn's planetary magnetic field, which is slightly weaker than Earth's and around one-twentieth the strength of Jupiter's. The outer atmosphere is generally bland and lacking in contrast, although long-lived features can appear. Wind speeds on Saturn can reach 1,800 km/h (1,100 mph), faster than on Jupiter, but not as fast as those on Neptune. 

Saturn has a prominent ring system that consists of nine continuous main rings and three discontinuous arcs, composed mostly of ice particles with a smaller amount of rocky debris and dust. Sixty-two known moons orbit the planet; fifty-three are officially named. This does not include the hundreds of "moonlets" within the rings. Titan, Saturn's largest and the Solar System's second largest moon, is larger than the planet Mercury and is the only moon in the Solar System to retain a substantial atmosphere. Saturn was the Roman name for the Greek Cronos, god of farming and the father of Zeus/Jupiter. Some of its satellites were named for Titans who, according to Greek mythology, were brothers and sisters of Saturn. The newest satellites were named for Gallic (Gaul, or ancient France), Norse, and Inuit (Eskimo) giants.

SATELLITES: 

Pan (the half-human, half-goat god of pastoralism); 

Atlas (a Titan who held the heavens on his shoulders); 

Prometheus (a Titan who gave many gifts to humanity, including fire); 

Pandora (a woman who opened the box that loosed a host of plagues upon humanity); 

Janus (a two-faced Roman god who could look forward and backward at the same time); 

Epimetheus (a Greek backward-looking god); 

Mimas (a Titan felled by Hephaestus);

Enceladus (a Titan killed by Athene); 

Tethys (the wife of Oceanus and mother of all rivers); 

Telesto (a water nymph); 

Calypso (a daughter of Atlas and paramour of Odysseus); 

Dione (a sister of Cronos); 

Helene (a daughter of Zeus); 

Rhea (a daughter of Cronos); Titan; 

Hyperion (a Titan); 

Iapetus (a Titan); 

Phoebe (another name for Artemis, goddess of the moon).

Satellites discovered in 2000 are: Kiviuq, Ijiraq, Paaliaq, Skadi, Albiorix, Erriapo, Siarnaq, Tarvos, Mundilfari, Suttung, Thrym, and Ymir. One more satellite, discovered in 2003, is yet to be named.

Roman name for the Greek Cronos, father of Zeus/Jupiter. Other civilizations have given different names to Saturn, which is the farthest planet from Earth that can be observed by the naked human eye. Most of its satellites were named for Titans who, according to Greek mythology, were brothers and sisters of Saturn.

 

Basic astronomical data

Basic Astronomical facts about Saturn:

Saturn is second largest planet in our Solar System. Its surface is made up of liquid and gas. Saturn is well known for its complex ring system. It has a diameter of about 120,660 kilometers. Its closest distance from the Earth is about 1.2 billion kilometers. From Sun its distance varies from 1.35 billion kilometers to 1.5 billion kilometers. Saturn takes 29.5 years to make one orbit around the Sun and it takes 10 hours 40 minutes to complete one rotation on its axis. Its average surface temperature is –178°C. Its average geocentric motion per day is 00°02'01". Saturn have 62 natural satellites of which Titan is most famous as it is the biggest satellite in our Solar system. Saturn retrograde for about 135 days per year.
 

Saturn orbits the Sun at a mean distance of 1,427,000,000 km (887 million miles). Its closest distance to Earth is about 1.2 billion km (746 million miles), and its phase angle—the angle that it makes with the Sun and Earth—never exceeds about 6°. Saturn seen from the vicinity of Earth thus always appears nearly fully illuminated. Only deep space probes can provide sidelit and backlit views.

Like Jupiter and most of the other planets, Saturn has a regular orbit—that is, its motion around the Sun is prograde (in the same direction that the Sun rotates) and has a small eccentricity (noncircularity) and inclination to the ecliptic, the plane of Earth’s orbit. Unlike Jupiter, however, Saturn’s rotational axis is tilted substantially—by 26.7°—to its orbital plane. The tilt gives Saturn seasons, as on Earth, but each season lasts more than seven years. Another result is that Saturn’s rings, which lie in the plane of its equator, are presented to observers on Earth at opening angles ranging from 0° (edge on) to nearly 30°. The view of Saturn’s rings cycles over a 30-year period. Earth-based observers can see the rings’ sunlit northern side for about 15 years, then, in an analogous view, the sunlit southern side for the next 15 years. In the short intervals when Earth crosses the ring plane, the rings are all but invisible.

Saturn’s rotation period has not yet been well determined. Cloud motions in its massive upper atmosphere trace out a variety of periods, which are as short as about 10 hours 10 minutes near the equator and increase with some oscillation to about 30 minutes longer at latitudes higher than 40°. Scientists have attempted to determine the rotation period of Saturn’s deep interior from that of its magnetic field, which is presumed to be rooted in the planet’s metallic-hydrogen outer core.

Direct measurement of the field’s rotation is difficult because the field is highly symmetrical around the rotational axis. At the time of the Voyager encounters, radio outbursts from Saturn, apparently related to small irregularities in the magnetic field, showed a period of 10 hours 39.4 minutes; this value was taken to be the magnetic field rotation period. Measurements made 25 years later by the Cassini spacecraft indicated that the field was rotating with a period 6–7 minutes longer. It is believed that the solar wind is responsible for some of the difference between the two measurements of the rotational period. Other analyses based on Saturn’s shape and interior structure suggested that the internal rotation period could be as short as 10 hours 32 minutes or as long as 10 hours 41 minutes. The time differences between the rotation periods of Saturn’s clouds and of its interior have been used to estimate wind velocities (see below The atmosphere).

Because the four giant planets have no solid surface in their outer layers, by convention the values for the radius and gravity of these planets are calculated at the level at which one bar of atmospheric pressure is exerted. By this measure, Saturn’s equatorial diameter is 120,536 km (74,898 miles). In comparison, its polar diameter is only 108,728 km (67,560 miles), or 10 percent smaller, which makes Saturn the most oblate (flattened at the poles) of all the planets in the solar system. Its oblate shape is apparent even in a small telescope. Even though Saturn rotates slightly slower than Jupiter, it is more oblate because its rotational acceleration cancels a larger fraction of the planet’s gravity at the equator. The equatorial gravity of the planet, 896 cm (29.4 feet) per second per second, is only 74 percent of its polar gravity. Saturn is 95 times as massive as Earth but occupies a volume 766 times greater. Its mean density of 0.69 gram per cubic cm is thus only some 12 percent of Earth’s. Saturn’s equatorial escape velocity—the velocity needed for an object, which includes individual atoms and molecules, to escape the planet’s gravitational attraction at the equator without having to be further accelerated—is nearly 36 km per second (80,000 miles per hour) at the one-bar level, compared with 11.2 km per second (25,000 miles per hour) for Earth. This high value indicates that there has been no significant loss of atmosphere from Saturn since its formation.

Composition & Structure

Viewed from Earth, Saturn has an overall hazy yellow-brown appearance. The surface that is seen through telescopes and in spacecraft images is actually a complex of cloud layers decorated by many small-scale features, such as red, brown, and white spots, bands, eddies, and vortices, that vary over a fairly short time. In this way Saturn resembles a blander and less active Jupiter.

A spectacular exception occurred during September–November 1990, when a large, light-coloured storm system appeared near the equator, expanded to a size exceeding 20,000 km (12,400 miles), and eventually spread around the equator before fading. Storms similar in impressiveness to this “Great White Spot” (so named in analogy with Jupiter’s Great Red Spot) have been observed at about 30-year intervals dating back to the late 19th century. This is close to Saturn’s orbital period of 29.4 years, which suggests that these storms are seasonal phenomena.

Saturn’s atmosphere is composed mostly of molecular hydrogen and helium. The exact relative abundance of the two molecules is not well known, since helium must be measured indirectly. Currently the best estimate is that the planet’s atmosphere is 18 to 25 percent helium by mass. The remainder is molecular hydrogen and about 2 percent other molecules. Helium is less abundant relative to hydrogen compared with the composition of the Sun. If hydrogen, helium, and other elements were present in the same proportions as in the Sun’s atmosphere, Saturn’s atmosphere would be about 71 percent hydrogen and 28 percent helium by mass. According to some theories, helium may have settled out of Saturn’s outer layers.

Atmospheric composition (by volume)

96.3 percent molecular hydrogen, 3.25 percent helium, minor amounts of methane, ammonia, hydrogen deuteride, ethane, ammonia ice aerosols, water ice aerosols, ammonia hydrosulfide aerosols

Magnetic Field

Saturn has a magnetic field about 578 times more powerful than Earth's.

Chemical composition

Saturn seems to have a hot solid inner core of iron and rocky material surrounded by an outer core probably composed of ammonia, methane, and water. Next is a layer of highly compressed, liquid metallic hydrogen, followed by a region of viscous hydrogen and helium. This hydrogen and helium becomes gaseous near the planet's surface and merges with its atmosphere.

Internal structure

Saturn seems to have a core between about 10 to 20 times as massive as the Earth.

Other major molecules observed in Saturn’s atmosphere

They are methane and ammonia, which are two to seven times more abundant relative to hydrogen than in the Sun. Hydrogen sulfide and water are also suspected to be present in the deeper atmosphere but have not yet been detected. Minor molecules that have been detected spectroscopically from Earth include phosphine, carbon monoxide, and germane. Such molecules would not be present in detectable amounts in a hydrogen-rich atmosphere in chemical equilibrium. They may be products of reactions at high pressure and temperature in Saturn’s deep atmosphere, well below the observable clouds, that have been transported to visible atmospheric regions by convective motions. A number of other nonequilibrium hydrocarbons are observed in Saturn’s stratosphere: acetylene, ethane, and, possibly, propane and methyl acetylene. All of the latter may be produced by photochemical effects (see photochemical reaction) from solar ultraviolet radiation or, at higher latitudes, by energetic electrons precipitating from Saturn’s radiation belts (see below The magnetic field and magnetosphere). (A similar molecular composition is observed in Jupiter’s atmosphere, for which similar chemical processes are inferred; see Jupiter: Proportions of constituents.)

Astronomers on Earth have analyzed the refraction (bending) of starlight and radio waves from spacecraft passing through Saturn’s atmosphere to gain information on atmospheric temperatureover depths corresponding to pressures of one-millionth of a bar to 1.3 bars. At pressures less than 1 millibar, the temperature is roughly constant at about 140 to 150 kelvins (K; −208 to −190 °F, −133 to −123 °C). A stratosphere, where temperatures steadily decline with increasing pressure, extends downward from 1 to 60 millibars, at which level the coldest temperature in Saturn’s atmosphere, 82 K (−312 °F, −191 °C), is reached. At higher pressures (deeper levels) the temperature increases once again. This region is analogous to the lowest layer of Earth’s atmosphere, the troposphere, in which the increase of temperature with pressure follows the thermodynamic relation for compression of a gas without gain or loss of heat. The temperature is 135 K (−217 °F, −138 °C) at a pressure of 1 bar, and it continues to increase at higher pressures.

Saturn’s visible layer of clouds is formed from molecules of minor compounds that condense in the hydrogen-rich atmosphere. Although particles formed from photochemical reactions are seen suspended high in the atmosphere at levels corresponding to pressures of 20–70 millibars, the main clouds commence at a level where the pressure exceeds 400 millibars, with the highest cloud deck thought to be formed of solid ammonia crystals. The base of the ammonia cloud deck is predicted to occur at a depth corresponding to about 1.7 bars, where the ammonia crystals dissolve into the hydrogen gas and disappear abruptly. Nearly all information about deeper cloud layers has been obtained indirectly by constructing chemical models of the behaviour of compounds expected to be present in a gas of near solar composition following the temperature-pressure profile of Saturn’s atmosphere. The bases of successively deeper cloud layers occur at 4.7 bars (ammonium hydrosulfide crystals) and at 10.9 bars (water ice crystals with aqueous ammonia droplets). Although all the clouds mentioned above would be colourless in the pure state, the actual clouds of Saturn display various shades of yellow, brown, and red. These colours are apparently produced by chemical impurities, perhaps as the photochemical products rain down on the clouds from above.Phosphorus-containing molecules are also candidate colorants.

A consequence of Saturn’s large axial tilt is that the rings cast dark shadows onto the winter hemisphere, further reducing the dim winter sunlight. Cassini images of sunlit swaths of the northern hemisphere during winter revealed a surprisingly clear blue atmosphere, which perhaps was a consequence of the comparative lack of photochemical haze production in the shadows of the rings.

Even at the extremely high pressures found deeper in Saturn’s atmosphere, the minimum atmospheric temperature of 82 K is too high for molecular hydrogen to exist as a gas and a liquid together in equilibrium. Thus, there is no distinct boundary between the shallow, visible atmosphere, where the hydrogen behaves predominantly as a gas, and the deeper atmosphere, where it resembles a liquid. Unlike the case for Earth, Saturn’s troposphere does not terminate at a solid surface but apparently extends tens of thousands of kilometres below the visible clouds, becoming steadily denser and warmer, eventually reaching temperatures of thousands of kelvins and pressures in excess of one million bars.

You can also check out these cool telescopes that will help you see the beauty of planet Saturn.

Orbit & Rotation

Average Distance from the Sun               

English: 885,904,700 miles                      Metric: 1,426,725,400 km(9.5 AU)        

By Comparison: 9.53707 times that of Earth

Perihelion (closest)                                   

English: 838,519,000 miles                      Metric: 1,349,467,000 km                      

By Comparison: 9.177 times that of Earth

Aphelion (farthest)                                    

English: 934,530,000 miles                      Metric: 1,503,983,000 km                      

By Comparison: 9.886 times that of Earth

Eccentricity of orbit                                   0.054

Inclination of orbit to ecliptic                     2.49°

Saturnian year
(sidereal period of revolution)                   29.45 Earth years

Visual magnitude at mean opposition     0.7

Mean synodic period*                               378.10 Earth days

Mean orbital velocity                                  9.6 km/sec

Equatorial radius**                                     60,268 km

Polar radius**                                             54,364 km

Mass                                                           5.683 × 10²⁶ kg

Mean density                                             0.69 g/cm³

Equatorial gravity**                                    896 cm/sec²

Polar gravity**                                            1,214 cm/sec²

Equatorial escape velocity**                     35.5 km/sec

Polar escape velocity**                             37.4 km/sec

Rotation period (magnetic field)              10 hr 39 min 24 sec (Voyager era); about 10 hr 46 min (Cassini-Huygens mission)

Inclination of equator to orbit                    26.7°

Magnetic field strength at equator            0.21 gauss

Number of known moons                          62

planetary ring system                                3 major rings comprising myriad component ringlets; several less-dense rings

*Time required for the planet to return to the same position in the sky relative to the Sun as seen from Earth.
**Calculated for the altitude at which 1 bar of atmospheric pressure is exerted.

Saturn's Moons

Saturn has at least 62 moons. Since the planet was named after Cronus, lord of the titans in Greek mythology, most of Saturn's moons are named after other titans, their descendants, as well as after giants from Gallic, Inuit and Norse myths.

Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is slightly larger than Mercury, and is the second-largest moon in the solar system behind Jupiter's moon Ganymede. Titan is veiled under a very thick, nitrogen-rich atmosphere that might be like what Earth's was long ago, before life. While the Earth's atmosphere extends only about 37 miles (60 kilometers) into space, Titan's reaches nearly 10 times as far.

These moons can possess bizarre features. Pan and Atlas are shaped like flying saucers, Iapetus has one side as bright as snow and one side as dark as coal, and Enceladus shows evidence of "ice volcanism," spewing out water and other chemicals. A number of these satellites, such as Prometheus and Pandora, areshepherd moons, interacting with ring material to keep rings in their orbits.

Saturn's Rings

Galileo was the first to see Saturn's rings in 1610, although from his telescope they resembled handles or arms. It took Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens, who had a more powerful telescope, to propose that Saturn had a thin, flat ring.

Saturn actually has many rings made of billions of particles of ice and rock, ranging in size from a grain of sugar to the size of a house. The rings are believe to be debris left over from comets, asteroids or shattered moons. Although they extend thousands of miles from the planet, the main rings are typically only about 30 feet thick. Cassini revealed vertical formations in some of the rings, with particles piling up in bumps and ridges more than 2 miles (3 kilometers) high.

The rings are generally named alphabetically in the order they were discovered. They are usually relatively close to each other, with one key exception caused by the Cassini Division, a gap some 2,920 miles (4,700 kilometers) wide. The main rings, working out from the planet, are known as C, B and A, with the Cassini Division separating B and A. The innermost is the extremely faint D ring, while the outermost to date, revealed in 2009, could fit a billion Earths within it.

Mysterious spokes have been seen in Saturn's rings, which might form and disperse over a few hours. Scientists have conjectured these spokes might be composed of electrically charged sheets of dust-sized particles created by small meteors impacting the rings or electron beams from the planet's lightning. Saturn's F Ring also has a curious braided appearance — it is composed of several narrow rings, and bends, kinks, and bright clumps in them can give the illusion that these strands are braided.

Research & Exploration

The first spacecraft to reach Saturn was Pioneer 11 in 1979, flying within 13,700 miles (22,000 kilometers) of it, which discovered the planet's two of its outer rings as well as the presence of a strong magnetic field. The Voyager spacecraft discovered the planet's rings are made up of ringlets, and sent back data that led to the discovery or confirmation of the existence of nine moons.

The Cassini spacecraft now in orbit around Saturn is the largest interplanetary spacecraft ever built, a two-story-tall probe that, at 6 tons in weight (5,650 kilograms), is roughly equal in mass to an empty 30-passenger school bus. It discovered plumes on the icy moon Enceladus, and carried the Huygens probe, which plunged through Titan's atmosphere to successfully land on its surface.

Saturn's Gravitational Impact on the Solar System

As the most massive planet in the solar system after Jupiter, the pull of Saturn's gravity has helped shape the fate of our system. It might have helped violently hurl Neptune and Uranus outward. It, along with Jupiter, might alos have slung a barrage of debris toward the inner planets early in the system's history.

Possibility of Life

The life found on Earth could not live on Saturn, and scientists doubt that any form of life exists there.

Body parts, function 

The Sun is the life giver to our physical bodies and controls the prana or life force. The placement of the Sun is very important for overall health as it governs entire constitution of the body. No number of words can express the Sun's importance in bodily functioning. It specifically rules the heart, eyes, upper back and spine, aorta and blood circulation. Every heart related problem arise due to affliction to Sun or its sign Leo, this includes enlarged heart conditions, palpitations of the heart, cholesterol-related degeneration of the heart, angina, pericarditis, endocarditis, blood pressure and heart attacks. High fevers, back problem, diseases of the bone marrow, rheumatic fever and sunstroke. 

Sun Signs Education and Career

It signifies studies related to tradition, philosophy and spiritualism. It rules over all types of fuel and their extraction, excretory system and all works related  to drainage, plumbing etc. it is signifier of labour, artisan, works, factory, refrigeration, low cadre work or services, physical and hard work of all kinds, glass or tile factories, metaphysics, philosophy, gardener, lead astronomy,  agriculture, footwear etc . It is a bridge between high and the low. A strong unafflicted Saturn is treated as strong signification of discipline, system and keen provision of life.

Professions governed by the Saturn:Saturn represents all career and vocations that are related to hard labor, tradition, the practical, real estate, the old and the conservative. Saturn denotes people working or associated with labour and menial jobs like working as peon, servants, industry and factory workers, domestic work, driver, cabman, and working on manpower. 

All career and jobs associated with mines, farms, agriculture, gardeners, cemetery, excavators, real estate, builders, bricklayers, tanners, hides, coal, ice, and tombstone makers. Priests, monks, nuns, night workers and night watchmen are also denoted by Saturn due to strict, hard, conservative and lonely life of people connected with these jobs.  

Manufacture and trading in rail engines and locomotives of all kinds including manufacture and trading in cars, lorries, trucks, heavy vehicles and all other kinds of transport vehicles of auto and non-auto type like bullock and horse-carts are also associated with Saturn. It also includes all those associated with theft, robbery, dacoit, plundering, pick-pocketing, and any other kind of criminal or other unlawful activities.

DISEASES GOVERNED SATURN:

Rheumatic troubles of all kinds, diseases of the feet and stomach, morbidness, gastric and phlegmatic troubles, bruises from stones and trees and gaseous ailments.

Saturn itself is considered a planet of diseases, sorrows and old age. Rheumatic pains, nervous disorders, arthritis, bones problems, fractures, paralysis, osteoporosis, sever depression and old age related diseases etc. are the indicator of malefic Saturn.

Saturn : Shani
Saturn relates to : Delays, Obstruction. In Shani Dasha every thing happens slowly, Dejection. Is Lord of the 8 th house, gives happiness from  Immovable property like Mars but has a second place after Mars. Together if Saturn and Moon are in any house then it is a very bad aspect. Sat-Mars Conjunction is bad for health. An event is delayed by Saturn but success is not denied.

Plants - Astrology and Mythology

Plants seen from an astrological perspective. See how zodiac signs and plants (trees, shrubs, herbs, crawlers, bulbs, vegetables, annuals, fruits and nuts) are connected.The myths sourrounding the plants and the facts revealed, their medicinal properties give a flavour to your basic need from mother nature.How Plants are connected with the Planets ?

Saturn

- Herbs like agrimony, arnica, belladona, blue bottle, cannabis, fumitory, gravel root, henbane, horsetail, knapweed, knotgrass,safflower.
- Shrubs like andrographis, coca, guelder rose, ignatius, quince, solomons seal.
-Trees like almonds, balm of gilead, elm slippery, ginkgo, holly tree, peepal tree., olive tree.

The Mantras for Saturn:

Beej Mantra of Saturn:	Om pram preem proum sah shanaischaraye namah
Saturn stotra:	Neelanjana samabhasam ravi putram yamagrajam chaaya martanda sambhutam tam namami shanaischaraye
Gayatri Mantra of Saturn:	Om kaak dhwajaaya vidmahae khadga hastaaya dheemahi tanno mandah prachodayaat

Remedies for Saturn which are performed if Saturn is not well placed in the horoscope:

1.    Worshiping of Lord Hanuman.

2.    Recitation of Hanuman Chalisa and Maha mrityunjaya Mantra.

3.    Reciting of Saturn Mantras.

4.    Charity: Donate black cloths, things made of iron, mustard oil, black sesame on Saturdays to old men.

5.    Fasting: On Saturdays.

6.    Pooja: Hanuman pooja.

7.    Rudraksh: Wear seven mukhi (seven faced) Rudraksh.