Saturn: Crash Course Astronomy #18

Saturn is the crown jewel of the solar system, beautiful and fascinating. It is a gas giant, and has a broad set of rings made of ice particles. Moons create gaps in the rings via their gravity. Saturn has dozens of moons, including Titan, which is as big as Mercury and has a thick atmosphere and lakes of methane; and Enceladus which has an undersurface ocean and eruptions of water geysers. While we are still uncertain, it is entirely possible that either or both moons may support life. This episode was brought to you by Squarespace http://www.squarespace.com -- Crash Course is on Patreon! You can support us directly by signing up at http://www.patreon.com/crashcourse -- Table of Contents Saturn is a Gas Giant 0:33 Moons Create Gaps in the Ice Rings 5:17 Dozens of Moons 6:18 Titan’s Methane Lakes 7:56 Enceladus’s Water Geysers 8:33 Life Potential 9:30 -- PBS Digital Studios: http://youtube.com/pbsdigitalstudios Follow Phil on Twitter: https://twitter.com/badastronomer Want to find Crash Course elsewhere on the internet? Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/YouTubeCrashCourse Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/TheCrashCourse Tumblr - http://thecrashcourse.tumblr.com Support CrashCourse on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/crashcourse -- PHOTOS/VIDEOS Saturn http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/saturn/images/IMG004899.jpg [credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute/G. Ugarkovic] Interiors http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/gallery/gas_interiors.jpg [credit: Lunar and Planetary Institute] Saturn Ring Plane Crossing http://www.spacetelescope.org/static/archives/images/large/opo9616a.jpg [credit: Erich Karkoschka (University of Arizona Lunar & Planetary Lab) and NASA/ESA] Translucent Rings http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA18295 [credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute] Catching its Tail http://www.ciclops.org/view_media/34501/Catching_Its_Tail?js=1 [credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute] Enter the Vortex http://www.ciclops.org/view_media/38030/Enter_the_Vortex_In_Psychedelic_Color [credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute] The Rose http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/multimedia/pia14944.html#.VSwz-5TF_Z0 [credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute] Ice http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/205796main_PIA10081-hires.jpg [credit: NASA/JPL/University of Colorado] Saturn’s rings to scale http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2014/05/02/saturn_s_rings_to_scale_thinner_than_paper.html [credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute] Saturn’s Ring Plane http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Saturn#/media/File:Saturn's_ring_plane.jpg [credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute - Cassini-Huygens/NASA] Saturn http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/saturn/images/IMG004899.jpg [credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute/G. Ugarkovic] Shaping the Drapes (video) http://ciclops.org/view.php?id=1361 [credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute] Peaks http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Saturn#/media/File:PIA11668_B_ring_peaks_2x_crop.jpg [credit: NASA / Jet Propulsion Lab / Space Science Institute] Mimas Cassini http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimas_(moon)#/media/File:Mimas_Cassini.jpg [credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute] Cassini NAC RGB https://www.flickr.com/photos/ugordan/6896462870/sizes/o/in/photostream/ [credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute/G. Ugarkovic] Titan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_(moon)#/media/File:Titan2005.jpg [credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute] Titan’s Nile River http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2012/11/Titan_s_Nile_River [credit: NASA/JPL–Caltech/ASI] Lakes http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/figures/PIA17655_fig1.jpg [credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASI/USGS] Enceladus http://www.ciclops.org/view_media/39541/Bursting-at-the-Seams [credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute] Iapetus Ridge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equatorial_ridge#/media/File:Iapetus_706_1419_1.jpg [credit: NASA (Cassini probe), Matt McIrvin (image mosaic)] Hyperion http://ciclops.org/media/ir/2005/1507_3730_1.jpg [credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute] Saturn eclipse mosaic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Saturn#/media/File:PIA17172_Saturn_eclipse_mosaic_bright_crop.jpg [credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute]