Like all of the planets, the massive gas giant Saturn travels in an ellipse rather than a circular path, and so its distance from the sun varies slightly over the course of its year. Saturn averages 886 million miles (1.4 billion km) from the sun, nine and a half times Earth's average distance.At its farthest (aphelion), Saturn hovers 934 million miles (1.5 billion km) from the sun; at its closest (perihelion), the distance to Saturn from the sun is only 839 million miles (1.4 billion km).he most distant of the planets obviously visible to the naked eye, Saturn is the sixth planet in the solar system. Because it travels in an elliptical path rather than a circular one, it doesn't always lie the same distance from the sun as it wanders through the sky.