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When seen through a telescope, Saturn is one of the most beautiful sights in the night sky. It looks like a big ball inside of rings. Saturn is a very large gas planet which spins very rapidly on its axis. It spins so fast that it flattens out the top and the bottom of the planet. The fast spin also causes Saturn to bulge at its equator.

Saturn's atmosphere has winds which can blow at over 1800 kilometres per hour! The white spots on Saturn are believed to be powerful storms. Saturn is surrounded by over 1000 rings made of ice and dust. Some of the rings are very thin and some are very thick. The size of the particles in the rings range from pebble-size to house-size. Scientists believe that the particles came from the destruction of moons circling the planet. As comets and meteorites smashed the moons, Saturn's gravitational pull shaped the particles into rings.

Saturn has at least 18 known moons. Some of these moons orbit the planet within the rings, creating gaps in the rings. Because Saturn's axis is inclined at 29 degrees, telescopic views change with different orbital positions of the Earth and Saturn. At times, the rings are seen edgewise from Earth and are nearly invisible.