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Saturn the ruler of Capricorn

Saturn was the Roman god of fertility, agriculture, of planting and harvest. To honour Saturn, every year the ancient Romans held a joy-filled feast known as the Saturnalia. This festival began near the end of December and lasted for a week. During the festival period, prisoners were freed from gaol as an act of good will, Roman armies were not permitted to start any new wars, and schools and shops remained closed to enable everyone to enjoy the festivities. The length of the festival was adjusted several times in the course of history, until, under Emperor Augustus, it was fixed at three days. In addition to the public observances at which private observances were also held. Families gathered, friends visited friends, and gifts were exchanged, and thee was much drinking and merry making, Even slaves were allowed extra liberties. The slaves would be given huge fees as their masters served.

The day Saturday was named after him.

Some historians think that a number of our modern Christmas customs including Christmas dinners, holiday parties, and the practice of exchanging gifts, may be traced to the Saturnalia.

He is believed to have brought cultivation to Rome, and with it, civilization. His time of rule was considered to be a golden age. Saturn was often identified with the Greek Titan Cronus, but Cronus was considered to be very violent- Saturn was peaceful. Greek legends tell us of Zeus (Jupiter) overthrowing the belligerent Cronus. Some believe that when Cronus was chased out of Olympus he came to Rome to rule as Saturn as the peaceful god of agriculture and was the king of a fertile region of land on the banks of the Tiber. He was taught agriculture by Janus. Janus was the Roman god of gateways and doorways and beginnings and endings. He was a two faced god who could look both forwards and backwards at the same time.

Saturn, The Binger of Old Age (Holst’s Planet Suite)  is the sixth planet from the sun and the second largest and has been known since prehistoric times. Galileo was the first to observe it with a telescope in 1610;

 Saturn is the least dense of the planets; its density being less than that of water. Its composition is similar to Jupiter, and is about 75% hydrogen and 25% helium with traces of water, methane, ammonia and "rock". It is thought that the primordial solar nebula from which the solar system was formed had a similar composition.

Saturn's interior is probably  similar to Jupiter's consisting of a rocky core,  with a liquid metallic hydrogen layer. The interior of Saturn, like Jupiter is very hot with a temperature of over 12000 degrees C at the core.  and  radiates more energy into space than it receives from the Sun. Most of the extra energy is generated by the same processes which are thought to operate in Jupiter. The bands which are so prominent on Jupiter are much fainter on Saturn. They are also much wider near the equator.  It was the ring system around Saturn which made it unique in the known solar system until 1977 when very faint rings were discovered around Uranus (and shortly thereafter around Jupiter and Neptune).  There are two prominent rings around Saturn (known as A and B) which can be seen from Earth and with a powerful telescope an additional fainter ring can bee seen. The pictures from the Voyager spacecraft showed an additional four rings. Saturn's rings, unlike the rings of the other planets, are very bright.  Though they look continuous from the Earth, the rings are actually composed of billions of small particles which appear to be composed mainly of ice.  They range in size from a centimetre or so to several metres, although a few kilometre sized objects have been observed. Saturn's rings are extraordinarily thin: though they're 250,000 km or more in diameter they're less than one kilometre thick. The origin of the rings of Saturn (and the other Jovian planets) is unknown. Saturn is easily visible to the unaided eye in a clear night time sky, although it is not nearly as bright as Jupiter. It is easy to identify Saturn  as a planet because it doesn't "twinkle" like the stars do. The rings and the larger satellites are visible with a small astronomical telescope.

There are some 30 satellites which revolve around Saturn. Some 18 of them have been named, each with a name of a god or goddess from Greek or Roman mythology.

 Pan is the innermost of Saturn's known satellites. In Greek mythology Pan the god of shepherds and flocks.

Atlas, the second satellite is named after the Titan Atlas who was condemned to bear the world upon his shoulders as punishment for attempting to storm the heavens.

Next is Prometheus, who In Greek mythology was another Titan and he stole fire from the gods and gave it to humankind.

Pandora is the fourth of Saturn's known satellites. In Greek mythology Pandora was the first woman on earth. She was given to Prometheus, bearing a jar which she was not to open. When she did, all evil contained escaped, except for one thing: Hope.

The fifth satellite is Epimetheus and in Greek mythology Epimetheus was the brother of Prometheus and husband of Pandora.

Janus is the sixth of Saturn's known satellites. In Roman mythology Janus was the god of gates and doorways, beginnings and endings.

The seventh satellite is Mimas  and in Greek mythology Mimas was a giant and was slain by Heracles.

Next is Enceladus, the eighth of Saturn's known satellites and in Greek mythology Enceladus was a giant who was killed by a lightning bolt sent by Zeus and buried beneath Mount Etna by Athena.

Tethys  the ninth of Saturn's known satellites who in Greek mythology  was the personification of the fertile ocean and was the wife of Oceanus.

Telesto is the tenth of Saturn's satellites and Telesto was a sea nymph, a daughter of Oceanus and Tethys.

The eleventh satellite is Calypso and Calypso was a nymph who held Odysseus prisoner on her island Ogygia for seven years.

Dione is the twelfth satellite and in Greek mythology Dione was the mother of Aphrodite..

Helene is the thirteenth of Saturn's known satellites. In Greek mythology Helene was an Amazon who battled with Achilles.

The second largest satellite is Rhea and  is the fourteenth of Saturn's known satellites. In Greek mythology Rhea was the mother of the gods, sister and wife of Cronus.

The largest of Saturn’s satellites is Titan and is the fifteenth of the known satellites. It is in fact larger than the planet Mercury. The Titans were a race of god-like giants, the personifications of the forces of nature.

Hyperion is the sixteenth of Saturn's known satellites. In Greek mythology Hyperion was a Titan, father of the sun-god Helios.

Lapetus is the seventeenth named satellite of Saturn and is the third largest. In Greek mythology Lapetus was another Titan and father of Atlas, Prometheus, and Epimetheus.

The eighteenth  named satellite is Phoebe  and Phoebe is almost 4 times more distant from Saturn than its nearest neighbour (Lapetus). In Greek mythology Phoebe is a Titaness, wife of Coeus and mother of Leto and Asteria.