How do Saturn's rings stay in place? Do they just float around the planet or does gravity keep them there or something?
ANNA, AGE 13, USA Answer: Saturn's rings are made up of millions of pieces of rock and dust. The gravity of Saturn holds it all in place but there are some moons that go around Saturn (just like our Moon), called shepherd moons that help to keep the rings in place. Hello Professor, One of my fourth grade students (Abria) posed the question of whether or not Saturn's rings rotate with the planet. We took a class survey and 12 students believe they probably do and 4 students think they don't. Would you be kind enough to respond to our question?
MRS DA SILVA, MANASSAS, USA Answer: It sounds like you have had an interesting discussion in class. Well you may be surprised to know that the four students who said the rings didn't orbit with the planet were correct! Let me explain why. The rings of Saturn are made up of billions upon billions of pieces of rock and dust. They formed around Saturn at the same time that Saturn itself formed some 5 billion years ago. Since they are simply rock and dust, they are not part of the planet itself but simply a vast collection of objects that are orbiting around it like our Moon orbits around the Earth. Furthermore, they don't all orbit around Saturn at the same speed. Those further away from the Planet travel slower than those nearer. I hope this helps and if you have any more fascinating discussions I'd be more than happy to hear about them. Is "Saturn" named after the day "Saturday"?
MONIL, AGE 12, LONDON Answer: Both Saturn and Saturday (or Saturn’s Day) are named the Roman god of agriculture and time. How many Saturns can fit inside the Sun?
ANON, AGE 14 Answer: About 1600 Saturns could fit inside the Sun! How Long does it take Saturn to rotate once on its axis?
ERIN, AGE 13, RHODE ISLAND Answer: It takes Saturn just 10 hours and 39 minutes to spin once on its axis. Why does it take that long for Saturn to orbit the sun?
SEJLA, AGE 13, ST PETERS Answer: It takes Saturn a lot longer to orbit the Sun compared to the Earth because it is so much further away from the Sun and so has a lot further to travel. 
Saturn is named after the Roman god of agriculture and time.
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How long does light take to reach Saturn from the Sun?
EMMA, AGE 10, PALMERSTON NORTH Answer: It takes sunlight 1 hour and 20 minutes to reach Saturn. By contrast, it takes just over eight minutes to reach us here on Earth. Can you tell me the force of gravity on Saturn?
TASH, AGE 14, AUSTRALIA Answer: The force of gravity on Saturn is just 1.1 times the force of gravity here on Earth. How long did it take for Huygens to get to Saturn from Earth?
AMANDA, AGE 12, WARRNAMBOOL Answer: It took the Cassini-Huygens probes seven years to get to Saturn. I am doing a school project on planets and I have to design a poster advertising one of the planets as a holiday destination. I have chosen Saturn and I was wondering if, because the rings are made of ice, could I put that you can ice skate around them? (p.s. It doesn't have to be exactly true)
ROSEMARY, AGE 11, LINCOLN Answer: The rings of Saturn are made up of billions and billions of pieces of dust, rock and ice, some of which are only a few metres across. Because the rings are not a solid object it is not possible to ice skate around them. Has anyone ever travelled to, or are planning to travel to Saturn?
LOUISE, AGE 10 Answer: No humans have ever travelled to Saturn and there are no plans to. There have been a number of automatic spaceships travelling to Saturn in fact one is there right now. It's called Cassini and it has a small spaceship attached to it which will land on one of Saturn's moon's on 14 January 2005. How did Saturn get its name?
ANON Answer: All of the planets are named after gods. Saturn is named after the Roman God of Agriculture. How long does it take for Saturn to orbit the sun?
COURTNEY, AGE 11 Answer: Saturn takes about 29 years to orbit the Sun. Where did the rings come from that encircle the Planet Saturn? Do any other planets in our solar system also have rings?
ROBERT, AGE 15 Answer: We think that the rings around Saturn are made of material that never formed a moon. We can see rings around other planets; Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune all have rings and we have seen evidence of parts of a ring around Mars too. Read more: Planet Saturn » Got a question? Send them to us here » | 
