Moons of Saturn
Saturn's moons: methane seas and ice fountains
Saturn has more known moons than any other planet: 293 as of 2026. Most are small, but two are among the most exciting places in the solar system.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute, Cassini (PIA14909). Public domain.
Meet the moons
Titan
- Diameter
- 5,150 km
- Surface pressure
- 1.5 times Earth's
- Surface temperature
- about −179 °C
Titan is the only moon with a thick atmosphere, mostly nitrogen like Earth's, wrapped in an orange haze of organic molecules.
It is the only place besides Earth known to have rain, rivers, lakes and seas on its surface, but they are made of liquid methane and ethane. Kraken Mare is bigger than the Caspian Sea. Below the icy crust there is probably an ocean of water.
Huygens and Dragonfly
The Cassini spacecraft orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017. It dropped Europe's Huygens probe, which parachuted onto Titan on 14 January 2005 and photographed rounded pebbles of ice on an orange plain.
NASA's Dragonfly is a car-sized, nuclear-powered drone with eight rotors. It is scheduled to launch in July 2028 and arrive at Titan in 2034, then hop between sites, studying the organic chemistry that may resemble Earth before life.
Enceladus
- Diameter
- 504 km
- Surface
- the most reflective in the solar system
- Special
- ice geysers at the south pole
In 2005 Cassini discovered jets of water vapour and ice grains shooting out of four long cracks near Enceladus's south pole, the "tiger stripes". They feed Saturn's faint E ring.
Cassini flew through the plumes and tasted them: salt, silica, organic molecules, molecular hydrogen (a possible food source for microbes) and, in 2023 results, phosphates. Underneath is a global ocean.
Other moons worth knowing
- Mimas (396 km): its giant Herschel crater makes it look like the Death Star. A 2024 study suggests it may hide a young ocean.
- Iapetus: one side is coal-dark, the other snow-white, and a ridge runs around its equator like a walnut seam.
- Rhea, Dione and Tethys: mid-sized icy moons with canyons and craters.
- Hyperion: tumbles chaotically and looks like a sponge.
- Pan and Daphnis: tiny shepherd moons that orbit inside the rings and sculpt them.
Could life be here?
Our rough guide, from 0 (no chance) to 5 (among the best places to look). No life has been found beyond Earth.
Could life be here? Enceladus
- Liquid water ocean, sampled directly
- Organic molecules, salts and phosphates
- Hydrogen from seafloor vents as an energy source
- Small world; the ocean may be geologically young
Verdict: Perhaps the best place in the solar system to look for life today.
Could life be here? Titan
- Rich organic chemistry
- Probable water ocean beneath the ice
- Liquid methane on the surface
- Surface far too cold for water-based life
- Any methane-based life would be very different from ours
Verdict: A natural laboratory for the chemistry that comes before life. Dragonfly will look closely.
Could life be here? Mimas and the others
- Mimas may have an ocean
- Little energy or chemistry known
Verdict: Unlikely.
Quick answers
How many moons does Saturn have?
293 confirmed moons as of 2026, more than any other planet.
Does Titan have lakes?
Yes, lakes and seas of liquid methane and ethane, mostly near its north pole. It is the only place other than Earth with stable liquid on the surface.
What comes out of Enceladus's plumes?
Water vapour and ice grains containing salt, silica, organic molecules, hydrogen and phosphates, from an ocean under the ice.
When will Dragonfly reach Titan?
It is scheduled to launch in July 2028 and arrive in 2034.
Sources and credits
- NASA Science, Saturn moons.
- NASA, Dragonfly (July 2028 launch window).
- NASA, Cassini results.
- Postberg, F. et al. (2023), Detection of phosphates originating from Enceladus's ocean, Nature 618, 489–493.
Photos credited to NASA, NOAA and other public-domain sources are used with thanks; BotBuhdy adds a small botbuhdy.com mark. Pictures labelled AI-generated illustration are artist-style illustrations made for this page, not photographs.