About saturne.net

saturne.net is an independent reference site, in French and English, about everything called Saturn: the planet, its rings and moons, its exploration, the Saturn V rocket, the Roman god and his mythology, works of art, astrology and pop culture. It is written from primary and institutional sources (NASA, ESA, JPL, the International Astronomical Union, peer-reviewed papers, museums) and is corrected as soon as an error is reported.

Why this site

The word "Saturn" covers very different things. Someone searching for it may want how many moons the planet has, the date of the next opposition, the story of Goya's painting, the specifications of the Moon rocket or what a "Saturn return" means. These topics are usually scattered across astronomy, art history, spaceflight and astrology sites of uneven quality. saturne.net brings them together in a single structure of nine sections, with links between them: from Titan to the Huygens landing, from the god Saturn to Goya's canvas.

Our sources

Every page relies on sources we consider reliable and verifiable, cited at the end of the article:

• Space agencies and laboratories: NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian Space Agency, for mission data and physical parameters.
• Reference bodies: the International Astronomical Union (nomenclature, moon discoveries), the Minor Planet Center, and IMCCE for ephemerides.
• Scientific literature: papers in peer-reviewed journals (Nature, Science, Icarus, The Planetary Science Journal and others), especially for recent results and topics still under debate.
• Museums and archives: the Prado Museum for Goya and Rubens, the Smithsonian and NASA centers for the Saturn V.
• Ancient texts: Hesiod, Ovid, Virgil and Macrobius in standard editions, carefully distinguished from modern interpretation.

The full list of institutions we consult is on our sources page.

Our method

• Figures are consistent across the site: radius, mass, rotation period, moon count and mission dates come from the same references, so one page does not contradict another.
• Uncertainty is flagged. Where science has not settled a question, such as the age of the rings or the structure of the core, we present the competing ideas rather than an artificial conclusion.
• Numbers are rounded to sensible precision rather than dressed up with misleading decimals.
• Astrology is treated as a cultural tradition: presented informatively and respectfully, with a clear statement that it has no scientific support, and tied to real astronomy where relevant.
• Copyright is respected: we do not reproduce song lyrics or long passages from protected works; we describe and analyze them and point to official sources.
• Dates are explicit: we avoid phrases like "this year" that age badly.

Independence

saturne.net is not affiliated with any space agency, museum, manufacturer or publisher. Names such as NASA, ESA or the Prado appear only as sources. The site currently carries no advertising, no affiliate links and no sponsored content. If that ever changes, it will be stated clearly on this page, and the line between editorial and commercial content will stay sharp.

Corrections

Despite our checks, errors can slip through, and Saturn research moves fast: the moon count, for example, more than tripled between 2019 and 2025. If you spot a mistake or outdated information, write to contact@saturne.net, naming the page and, if possible, a source. Factual corrections are made promptly; significant updates are worked into the text without obscuring what changed. See also our contact page.

Privacy

The site is static and hosted by Cloudflare. It uses Google Analytics to measure traffic (pages viewed, where visits come from) and carries no advertising trackers. Details are in our privacy policy, and publisher and hosting information is in the legal notice.

Sources

• NASA Science – Saturn
• ESA – European Space Agency
• International Astronomical Union
• Museo del Prado