Saturn. Saturn's interior is probably composed of a core of iron, nickel and rock (silicon and oxygen compounds), surrounded by a deep layer of metallic hydrogen, an intermediate layer of liquid hydrogen and liquid helium and an outer gaseous layer.[15] The planet exhibits a pale yellow hue due to ammonia crystals in its upper atmosphere.
Electrical current within the metallic hydrogen layer is thought to give rise to Saturn's planetary magnetic field, which is weaker than Earth's magnetic field but has a magnetic moment 580 times that of the Earth due to Saturn's larger body radius. Saturn's magnetic field strength is around one-twentieth the strength of Jupiter's.[16] The outer atmosphere is generally bland and lacking in contrast, although long-lived features can appear. Saturn. Cassini Virtual Tour. Cassini Virtual Tour [Editor's note, March 2011: for expanded development of this project, please see [Editor's note, July 2010: The data that drives the "Mission Mode" of CASSIE was made available through the first days of July 2010.
It was deemed cost prohibitive to update, so this page and CASSIE itself remains active as an archive reference until a suitable replacement becomes available.] If this is the first time you've tried CASSIE, when you click on the button below it will automatically download and install the needed software (a free plug-in to your web-browser) and real Cassini mission data. Magnetosphere of Saturn. The magnetosphere of Saturn is the cavity created in the flow of the solar wind by the planet's internally generated magnetic field.
Discovered in 1979 by the Pioneer 11 spacecraft, Saturn's magnetosphere is the second largest of any planet in the Solar System after Jupiter. The magnetopause, the boundary between Saturn's magnetosphere and the solar wind, is located at a distance of about 20 Saturn radii from the planet's center, while its magnetotail stretches hundreds of radii behind it. In 1980–1981 the magnetosphere of Saturn was studied by the Voyager spacecraft.
As of 2010 it is a subject of the ongoing investigation by Cassini mission, which arrived in 2004.