Saturn - the "Lord of the Rings" - is the second largest and perhaps the most spectacular planet in the Solar system. Occupying the sixth position from the Sun it is surrounded by multiple rings consisting of dust, ice and rock. These seem to be debris from a moon or moons, which orbited Saturn too closely and broke apart. The rings have a complex structure - featuring gaps and spoke-like density fluctuations - and seem to be controlled and stabilized by numerous small so-called "shepherd-moons". Due to this Saturn is leader in the number of moons among the planets of the Solar system - 62 have been observed until early 2010, and only 13 of which have diameters larger than 50 km.

Just like Jupiter Saturn is a gas giant - consisting of approximately 80% hydrogen and 20% helium, with trace amounts of other constituents. Its average density is so low - Saturn would float on water. Saturn too rotates very fast and therefore its atmosphere shows the typical banded structure of global wind systems.

Following in the footsteps of the successful Pioneer and Voyager missions, the US/European Cassini/Huygens mission - with Austrian participation - started to explore the planet from orbit in July 2004. The entry probe Huygens descended into the atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon Titan and gathered for the first time data from an area believed to resemble the typical environment of planets in the early Solar system.

Further information on Saturn is found at The Nine Planets.