Mass of Saturn
Cassini's view of Saturn. Image credit: NASA/JPL/SSI
The mass of Saturn is 5.6846×1026 kg. Just for a comparison, this is 95 times the mass of the Earth.
Saturn is much larger than Earth; its equator spans 9.4 times the size of our home planet. And yet, it’s much less dense. In fact, Saturn has such a low density that it would actually float on water if you could find a pool large enough.
And so, even though it’s much larger and more massive than Earth, if you could actually stand on the “surface of Saturn” – which you can’t, there’s no surface – you would only feel 91% of gravity that we feel here on Earth.
Here’s an article from Universe Today explaining just how big planets can get, and an article about how Jupiter and the other gas giants might have gobbled up their moons while they were forming.
Here’s Hubblesite’s News Releases about Saturn, which has more info about the ringed planet, and NASA’s Solar System Exploration guide.
We have recorded two episodes of Astronomy Cast just about Saturn. The first is Episode 59: Saturn, and the second is Episode 61: Saturn’s Moons.
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