Illustration showing Saturn's orbit around the Sun. Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun, with an average distance from it of about 1.4 billion kilometres. It takes nearly 29 and a half years to orbit the Sun but only just over 10 hours to rotate around its own axis. The speed of this rotation causes the planet to bulge at the equator. Its axis of rotation is tilted to the plane of its orbit by 26 degrees, giving rise to seasons that are similar to those on Earth but of different durations. This tilt also means that Saturn's rings are not always visible from Earth. For an unlabelled version of this image see C058/1008.