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.

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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

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PHOTOS/VIDEOS
Saturn saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/saturn/images/IMG004899.jpg [credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute/G. Ugarkovic]
Interiors solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/gallery/gas_interiors.jpg [credit: Lunar and Planetary Institute]
Saturn Ring Plane Crossing www.spacetelescope.org/static/archives/images/large/opo9616a.jpg [credit: Erich Karkoschka (University of Arizona Lunar & Planetary Lab) and NASA/ESA]
Translucent Rings www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA18295 [credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute]
Catching its Tail www.ciclops.org/view_media/34501/Catching_Its_Tail?js=1 [credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute]
Enter the Vortex www.ciclops.org/view_media/38030/Enter_the_Vortex_In_Psychedelic_Color [credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute]
The Rose www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/multimedia/pia14944.html#.VSwz-5TF_Z0 [credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute]
Ice www.nasa.gov/images/content/205796main_PIA10081-hires.jpg [credit: NASA/JPL/University of Colorado]
Saturn’s rings to scale 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 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Saturn#/media/File:Saturn%27s_ring_plane.jpg [credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute - Cassini-Huygens/NASA]
Saturn saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/saturn/images/IMG004899.jpg [credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute/G. Ugarkovic]
Shaping the Drapes (video) ciclops.org/view.php?id=1361&js=1 [credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute]
Peaks 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 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimas_(moon)#/media/File:Mimas_Cassini.jpg [credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute]
Cassini NAC RGB www.flickr.com/photos/ugordan/6896462870/sizes/o/in/photostream/ [credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute/G. Ugarkovic]
Titan en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_(moon)#/media/File:Titan2005.jpg [credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute]
Titan’s Nile River www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2012/11/Titan_s_Nile_River [credit: NASA/JPL–Caltech/ASI]
Lakes photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/figures/PIA17655_fig1.jpg [credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASI/USGS]
Enceladus www.ciclops.org/view_media/39541/Bursting-at-the-Seams [credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute]
Iapetus Ridge en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equatorial_ridge#/media/File:Iapetus_706_1419_1.jpg [credit: NASA (Cassini probe), Matt McIrvin (image mosaic)]
Hyperion ciclops.org/media/ir/2005/1507_3730_1.jpg [credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute]
Saturn eclipse mosaic en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Saturn#/media/File:PIA17172_Saturn_eclipse_mosaic_bright_crop.jpg [credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute]

1. Introduction to Astronomy
2. Naked Eye Observations
3. Cycles in the Sky
4. Moon Phases
5. Eclipses
6. Telescopes
7. The Gravity of the Situation
8. Tides
9. Introduction to the Solar System
10. The Sun
11. The Earth
12. The Moon
13. Mercury
14. Venus
15. Mars
16. Jupiter
17. Jupiter's Moons
18. Saturn
19. Uranus & Neptune
20. Asteroids
21. Comets
22. The Oort Cloud
23. Meteors
24. Light
25. Distances
26. Stars
27. Exoplanets
28. Brown Dwarfs
29. Low Mass Stars
30. White Dwarfs & Planetary Nebulae
31. High Mass Stars
32. Neutron Stars
33. Black Holes
34. Binary and Multiple Stars
35. Star Clusters
36. Nebulae
37. The Milky Way
38. Galaxies, part 1
39. Galaxies, part 2
40. Gamma-Ray Bursts
41. Dark Matter
42. The Big Bang, Cosmology part 1
43. Dark Energy, Cosmology part 2
44. A Brief History of the Universe
45. Deep Time
46. Everything, The Universe...And Life
47. Explore The Solar System:

In this Crash Course series, marvel at the wonders of astronomy with your host for this intergalactic adventure, the Bad Astronomer himself -- Phil Plait. In just 40 short lessons, you will learn the basics of the oldest science known to humanity.

Be sure to check out links to relevant Photos in the description for each video.