Each planet has its own unique colour scheme – creating a rainbow of colours in our solar system.
And one of those planets is Saturn – here’s everything you need to know about this spectacular planet.
What colour is Saturn?
Saturn is a giant gas planet with an outer atmosphere that is mostly hydrogen and helium.
It’s atmosphere has traces of ammonia, phosphine, water vapour, and hydrocarbons – giving it a yellowish-brown colour with hints of orange.
It’s clouds acquire a deep red colour due to hydrogen in the atmosphere – however, the ammonia clouds obscure this red colour causing it to create the outermost layer and cover the entire planet.
This forms a pale gold colour.
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Some photographs of Saturn captured by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft made the planet look blue, similar to Uranus.
However, this is probably just because of how the light is scattering from Cassini’s perspective.
What is Saturn made of?
If a spacecraft attempted to touch down on Saturn, it would never find solid ground.
This is because unlike the Earth, Saturn is not solid – and instead is a giant gas planet.
It is made up of 94% hydrogen, 6% helium and small amounts of methane and ammonia – and contains many of the same components as the sun.
It is thought that there might be a molten, rocky core about the size of Earth deep within Saturn – but this has never been confirmed.
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What are the colours of the other planets?
The colours of the solar system vary in appearance – and each are known for their different shades and shapes.
Planets have the colours that they have because of what they are made of – and how their surfaces or atmospheres reflect and absorb sunlight.
So, what are the colours of the other planets? Here’s everything you need to know.
- Mercury – Grey
- Venus – Brown and grey
- Earth – Blue, brown, green and white
- Mars – Red, brown and tan
- Jupiter – Brown, orange, tan and white
- Uranus – Blue and green
- Neptune – Blue
This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
