Scientists: Then the iconic rings of Saturn will disappear

Scientists analyzed data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft that orbited Saturn between 2004 and 2017. Three different reports on this matter have recently been published in scientific journals.

Our solar system and its planets formed about 4.6 billion years ago. Scientists have determined that Saturn’s rings formed much later than the planet.

Our conclusion is that Saturn’s rings must be relatively young by astronomical standards, only a few hundred million years old. Because when you look at Saturn’s satellite system, there are things that indicate that something exciting happened there at that time. If Saturn’s rings are not as old as the planet, says Professor Richard Doresen, lead author of one of the research reports, then something happened to create this amazing structure, which is very fascinating to study.

disappear “within a few hundred million years”

According to the researchers, the seven rings were likely formed when there were still dinosaurs on Earth.

The rings, which consist mostly of ice, were surprisingly “clean” according to the researchers, which also indicates that they haven’t been around long enough for massive amounts of space dust to accumulate.

Previous research indicated that the rings could disappear within 100 million years. According to one of the new research reports, the rings will disappear “within a few hundred million years.” India today.

– We’ve shown that rings as massive as those on Saturn don’t last long, says researcher Paul Estrada, co-author of all three research reports.

He compares it to the rings that revolve around another planet.

One can speculate that the relatively small rings around the ice and gas giants in our solar system are what’s left of rings that were once as large as those around Saturn. At some point in the not-too-distant future, by astronomical standards, Saturn’s rings may fade until they look like the more modest rings of Uranus, says Paul Estrada.