How Long Is a Day on Saturn? How Long Is a Year?

Last Updated on Jan 27 2023

The length of the day and year on Saturn is different from that on Earth. The day length on Saturn is just 11 hours, but one year on Saturn is roughly equivalent to 10,756 Earth days or 29.4 Earth years. Although the timings are different, Saturn experiences seasons like Earth since the planet is on a tilt. 

To learn more about how long a day and a year is on Saturn, keep reading. This article explains why different planets experience different timings. We also look at how day and year lengths differ from planet to planet. Scroll down to learn more.

Calculating the Length of Days and Years on Saturn

When most people think of the day, they think of the day-night cycle that we are used to on Earth. Likewise, most people think of our 12-month calendar when determining a year. Although both of these understandings of time are correct for Earth, they are not correct when you look at other planets.?

The reason for this is that the length of the day and year is determined by the planet’s orbit. Days are determined by how quickly it takes for the planet to rotate on its axis. Meanwhile, years are determined by how long it takes the planet to rotate around the Sun.

What this means is that the length of a day and the length of a year is different for every planet, including Saturn. The unique rotation of the planet’s axis will determine how long a day takes, whereas the planet’s positioning to the Sun determines how long a year is.

How Long Is a Day on Saturn?

Saturn actually has the second shortest day in our entire Solar System. In Earth time, it only takes the planet 10.7 hours to spin around its axis once. What this means is that a day on the planet is only 10.7 hours, roughly rounded up to 11 hours.

How Long Is a Day on Other Planets?

Here is a look at how long one day is on all the planets in our Solar System:

As you can see, Venus has the longest day, whereas Jupiter has the shortest day, beating out Saturn by just 1 hour.

How Long Is a Year on Saturn?

Even though a day on Saturn is shorter than a day on Earth, a year on Saturn is longer than that on Earth. Because Saturn is situated further away from the sun, it has a longer trip around the sun, resulting in a longer year. In Earth time, it takes about 29.4 years or 10,756 days for Saturn to completely orbit around the Sun or complete a year.

How Long Is a Year on Other Planets?

The length of a year is dependent on the planet’s orbital path around the Sun. The further away the planet is from the Sun, the longer it will take to complete this orbit. Here’s how long a year is on different planets in Earth days:

Seasons on Saturn

Interestingly, Saturn actually experiences seasons much like Earth. Seasons are determined by the planet’s tilt. On Earth, our seasons are determined by our 23.5-degree tilt. Similarly, Saturn has a tilt of 26.73 degrees, meaning Saturn experiences seasons, too.

Recap

A day on Saturn is about 11 hours, but a year on Saturn is about 10,759 days. As a result, Saturn has the second shortest day in our Solar System, but it has the third-longest year due to its far position from the sun. If you feel that 2022 is taking forever, just think about how living on Saturn would feel!

Featured Image Credit: Johan Swanepoel, Shutterstock