Saturn Globe - 6-inch

This custom-produced, injection molded 6-inch globe features 17 planetary features identified and labeled, a clear acrylic display base, and an informational flyer. The detachable 14.5" acrylic rings feature 7 regions identified and labeled. Created by the Astronomy team, this 6-inch Saturn Globe is essential for any astronomy enthusiast's collection. Saturn is planet number six in order out from the Sun, and it is the second largest planet in our solar system.  It also ranks second in mass - 95 times as much as Earth. Among its most notable features, however, are the broad rings encircling the giant.  The first person to correctly identify the nature of the rings was Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens.  In 1655, he viewed them through a 2.4-inch telescope with an eyepiece that gave a magnification of 43x.  He published his observations four years later. The outermost of these is the A ring.  A dark gap called the Cassini Division, which is visible through a 3-inch telescope, separates it from the brighter central B ring.  The innermost of the major ring components is the C ring, by far the faintest of the three. Halfway between the outer and inner edges of the A ring is the Encke Division, and eight-tenths of the way out from the globe in the A ring is the very narrow Keeler Gap. The maps for the globe were created by Björn Jónsson, an expert on converting spacecraft image data into stunning planetary maps.  The southern hemisphere was created using 56 images obtained by the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft in 2004.  The northern hemisphere was created using 31 Voyager 2 images. The graphics for the rings were created by the Astronomy art department using NASA images. Get your hands on this exclusive, limited-edition globe set today!