Discovering Saturn's Interior through Cassini's "Grand Finale".
The Cassini spacecraft's final plunge into Saturn's atmosphere six years ago provided astronomers with a wealth of information about the planet's interior. By studying the rings and gravitational environment, astronomers have developed models of Saturn's deep interior. The available evidence indicates that the planet's atmosphere undergoes differential rotation down to a depth of 10,000 km, and that it has a core composed of heavy elements that slowly diffuses and mixes with the hydrogen and helium atmosphere. However, astronomers still do not fully understand how Saturn generates all of its heat.