The Many Different Emojis For Saturn, Ranked By A Planetary Scientist
Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter and other platforms all have a "ringed planet" emoji that looks a lot like Saturn. But which emoji actually nails the look of the planet?
Thanks to this delightful thread by planetary scientist James O'Donoghue, we now have a definitive answer to this. In his Twitter thread, O'Donoghue evaluates how well each emoji represents the atmosphere, rings, colors and tilt angle of the gas planet and gives his final ranking of which emoji is the most scientifically accurate.
According to O'Donoghue, Apple's Saturn emoji is pretty well done, although the tilt angle is a bit off. Facebook's Saturn emoji, on the other hand, is way too colorful.
The width and lack of gaps in the rings are the main issues with Google's emoji, and the colors of Microsoft's Saturn emoji is, simply and aptly put, "disturbing." It's a Saturn if Saturn were made of flaming hot Cheetos.
And then we have Twitter and WhatsApp. Twitter's orange emoji is declared to be "the most offensive of all," while WhatsApp's Saturn emoji is a beauty, with the right tilt angle and detailed shading and color.
And in case there's any doubt, here's O'Donoghue's final ranking of each emoji, from best (WhatsApp) to worst (Twitter):
[Via Twitter]