INSIDE SATURN

ATMOSPHERE AND PLANETARY COMPOSITION
Saturn is about 97% Hydrogen gas, about 3% helium gas and about 0.05% methane, plus ammonia. Near the equator, tremendous winds blow at 1,100 mph (500 meters per second) toward the east. The clouds in the atmosphere are cold, thick and uniform in shape.

Saturn is a gaseous planet with a rocky core, a liquid metallic hydrogen layer above the core, and a molecular hydrogen layer above that. The hot, heavy, rocky core has a radius possibly three times the radius of the Earth.

Saturn has a strong magnetic field (less than Jupiter's, but still very strong). Saturn's magnetic field is probably generated by electrical current in conductive layers near the quickly-rotating planet's core. Because of this strong magnetic field, there are abundant auroras on Saturn and radios emissions from it.

Saturn radiates 79% more energy than it receives from the Sun, probably heat from its hot core.

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