This is an image of Saturn. Click on image for full size version (92K GIF) Image from: NASA

The dramatic appearance of Saturn stems mainly from the spectacular rings. The atmosphere looks much less dramatic. The clouds of Saturn are much less colorful than those of Jupiter. This is because the composition of Saturn's atmosphere includes more sulfur. This adds to Saturn's overall yellow appearance. When you look closely, however, Saturn's atmosphere is just as fierce as that of Jupiter!

The atmosphere of Saturn, like Jupiter, is only a narrow region, compared to the vast interior of Saturn. The three clouddecks of Saturn are to be found mostly low in the atmosphere, while hazes of smog can be found higher up.

Saturn is not much changed from its early evolution out of the primitive solar nebula, and in fact, may still be forming!

Motions in the cloud patterns indicate that, like Jupiter, the basic weather of Saturn can be described as a striped pattern of winds.