The Odyssey Of Saturn s Colorful Rings - 1042 Words

The panoply of Saturn’s colorful rings greeted Surina the next morning. In fact, many dazzled passengers packed the observation deck to admire the fresco of shimmering pastel pinks, grays, yellows, and browns painted by the most prolific artist of all, the creator of the universe. Orbiting in the magical ringlets of Saturn were the icy rocks from the blown up remnants of the ancient moons that reflected the sunlight to produce the glittering pastel colors. Similar to Jupiter, Saturn was a gas giant of primarily hydrogen and helium gasses without a solid surface, on which fierce winds, lightning storms, and bitter cold temperatures raged. Titan, the biggest of the fifty-three moons, was even larger than Mercury and shrouded in the†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"We saw Saturn today whose name comes from the Roman god of agriculture. Tomorrow, we will see the last two planets in our Solar System. First, will be Uranus or the Greek god of the sky and later, Neptune or the Roman god of the sea. These ice giants of frozen water, ammonia, and methane have much fainter rings than Saturn’s dramatic ones. From their far-flung locations at the edge of the Solar System, it takes eighty-four Earth years for Uranus to orbit once around the Sun in comparison with a hundred and sixty-five Earth years for Neptune. Additionally, Neptune is the only planet in the Solar System not visible from Earth without a telescope. Both planets have frozen landscapes, with an average temperature of minus two hundred and twenty-four degrees Celsius for Uranus and minus four hundred degrees Celsius for Neptune. The two planets appear blue due to the reflection of blue light by methane, a primary component in their atmosphere. Furthermore, the twenty-seven moons of Uranus have names from characters of William Shakespeare’s plays such as Juliet, Ophelia, and Puck. In contrast, Neptune’s thirteen moons have names from the Greek sea gods and mythical be ings such as Triton and Larissa.† From the front row, Alfonso raised his hand to ask enthusiastically, â€Å"Sir, is there life anywhere else in the universe?† â€Å"We launched many unmanned probes into space, bearing messages of