Saturn’s atmosphere is composed mostly of molecular hydrogen and helium.

The exact relative

abundance of the two molecules is not well known, since helium must be measured indirectly. Currently
the best estimate is that the planet’s atmosphere is 18 to 25 percent helium by mass. The remainder is
molecular hydrogen and about 2 percent other molecules. Helium is less abundant relative to hydrogen
compared with the composition of the Sun. If hydrogen, helium, and other elements were present in the
same proportions as in the Sun’s atmosphere, Saturn’s atmosphere would be about 71 percent
hydrogen and 28 percent helium by mass. According to some theories, helium may have settled out of
Saturn’s outer layers.

Other major molecules observed in Saturn’s atmosphere are methane and ammonia, which are two to
seven times more abundant relative to hydrogen than in the Sun. Hydrogen sulfide and water are also
suspected to be present in the deeper atmosphere but have not yet been detected. Minor molecules
that have been detected spectroscopically from Earth include phosphine, carbon monoxide, and
germane. Such molecules would not be present in detectable amounts in a hydrogen-rich atmosphere in
chemical equilibrium. They may be products of reactions at high pressure and temperature in Saturn’s
deep atmosphere, well below the observable clouds, that have been transported to visible atmospheric
regions by convective motions. A number of other nonequilibrium hydrocarbons are observed in
Saturn’s stratosphere: acetylene, ethane, and, possibly, propane and methyl acetylene. All of the latter
may be produced by photochemical effects (see photochemical reaction) from solar ultraviolet radiation
or, at higher latitudes, by energetic electrons precipitating from Saturn’s radiation belts (see below The
magnetic field and magnetosphere). (A similar molecular composition is observed in Jupiter’s
atmosphere, for which similar chemical processes are inferred; see Jupiter: Proportions of constituents.)

(Source: britannica.com)