NASA: New research suggests how Saturn’s rings were created
· 27.09.2023 · 01:15:01 ··· ··· Wednesday ·· 3 (3)
The Telegraph Saturn’s rings were created when two icy moons crashed together unleashing a frozen debris field which encircled the planet, a new study suggests.
Previous theories have suggested that the rings were made from pieces of comets or asteroids that were torn apart by Saturn’s powerful gravity, and left suspended in orbit soon after the planet formed.
But new research by Nasa and the universities of Durham and Glasgow suggests the rings were created when two ice moons collided and shattered only a few hundred million years ago.
It means that for most of its existence Saturn did not have rings.
Experts say the two culprits would have been similar in size to two of Saturn’s current moons, Dione and Rhea, which have a radius of 348 and 474 miles respectively.
Dr Vincent Eke, Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and the Institute for Computational Cosmology, at Durham University, said: “We tested a hypothesis for the recent formation of Saturn’s rings and have found that an impact of icy moons is able to send enough material near to Saturn to form the rings that we see now.”
#nasa #saturn #space
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