Saturn is one of the most mysterious planets for both professional astronomers and amateurs. Much of the interest in the planet comes from the characteristic rings around Saturn. Although not visible to the naked eye, the rings can be seen even with a weak telescope.
Saturn's mostly ice rings are kept in orbit by the complex gravitational forces of the gas giant and its satellites, some of which are actually within the rings. Despite the fact that people have learned a lot about rings since they were first discovered 400 years ago, this knowledge is constantly being updated (for example, the most distant ring from the planet was discovered only ten years ago).
1. Galileo Galilei and Saturn
Spawning telescopes
In 1610, the famous astronomer and “enemy of the church” Galileo Galilei was the first person to point his telescope at Saturn. He noted strange formations around the planet. But, since his telescope was not powerful enough, Galileo did not realize that these were rings.
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2. Billions of chunks of ice
Ice and stone
Saturn's rings are made up of billions of pieces of ice and stone. These fragments range in size from a grain of salt to a small mountain.
3. Only five planets
Modern telescope
As you know, a person can see five planets with the naked eye: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. To see Saturn's rings, rather than just a ball of light, you need a telescope with at least 20x magnification.
4. Rings are named alphabetically
The closest to Saturn is ring D
The rings are named alphabetically based on their date of discovery. The D ring is closest to the planet, followed by the C, B, A, F, Janus / Epimetheus, G, Pallene and E.
5. Remains of comets and asteroids
93% of the mass of the rings - ice
The rings of Saturn, according to most scientists, are the remnants of passing comets and asteroids. The scientists came to this conclusion because about 93% of the mass of the rings is ice.
6. The person who defined the rings of Saturn
Dutch astronomer Christian Huygens
The first person to actually see and define Saturn's rings was the Dutch astronomer Christian Huygens in 1655. At the time, he suggested that the gas giant has one solid, thin and flat ring.
7. Saturn's moon Enceladus
E ice ring geysers
Thanks to the geysers that abound on the surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus, the ice ring E was formed. Scientists pin very high hopes on this satellite, because it has oceans in which life can hide.
8. Rotation speed
The speed decreases with distance
Each of the rings revolves around Saturn at a different speed. The speed of rotation of the rings decreases with distance from the planet.
9. Neptune and Uranus
Saturn's rings are not unique
Although Saturn's rings are the most famous in the solar system, three other planets boast rings. We are talking about the gas giant (Jupiter) and the ice giants (Neptune and Uranus).
10. Disturbances in the rings
Perturbations resemble ripples
The planet's rings can act as evidence of how comets and meteors flying through the solar system are attracted to Saturn. In 1983, astronomers discovered ripple-like disturbances in the rings. They believe this was caused by the comet debris colliding with the rings.
11. Clash of 1983
Orbits of rings C and D are broken
A 1983 collision with a comet weighing between 100 billion and 10 trillion kilograms caused the orbits of rings C and D to be disrupted. The rings are believed to be "aligned" over hundreds of years.
12. Vertical "tubercles" on the rings
Vertical formations up to 3 km
Particles inside Saturn's rings can sometimes form vertical formations. It looks like vertical "bumps" on rings about 3 km high.
13. Second after Jupiter
Rotational speed of Saturn - 10 hours and 33 minutes
Apart from Jupiter, Saturn is the fastest rotating planet in the solar system - it completes a full revolution on its axis in just 10 hours and 33 minutes. Due to this rotation rate, Saturn is more convex at the equator (and flattened at the poles), which further emphasizes its iconic rings.
14. Ring F
Mini satellites of the planet
Situated just behind Saturn's main ring system, the narrow F ring (actually three narrow rings) appears to have kinks and clumps in its structure. This led scientists to assume that there may be mini-satellites of the planet inside the ring.
15. Launch of 1997
Interplanetary station Cassini
In 1997, the automatic interplanetary station "Cassini" was launched to Saturn. Before entering orbit around the planet, the spacecraft flew between rings F and G.
16. Tiny moons of Saturn
Keeler and Encke slits
In the two crevices or divisions between the rings, namely Keeler (35 km wide) and Encke (325 km wide), there are tiny satellites of Saturn. It is assumed that these gaps in the rings were formed precisely due to the passage of satellites through the rings.
17. The width of Saturn's rings is enormous
Saturn's rings are very thin
Although the width of the rings of Saturn is enormous (80 thousand kilometers), their thickness is relatively very small. As a rule, it is about 10 meters and rarely reaches 1 kilometer.
18. Dark stripes running across the rings
Strange formations like ghosts
In the rings of Saturn, strange formations that look like ghosts have been discovered. These formations, which look like light and dark stripes running across the rings, are called “spokes”. Many theories have been put forward as to their origin, but there is no consensus.
19. Rings of the moon of Saturn
Saturn's moon Rhea
Saturn's second largest moon, Rhea, may have its own rings. They have not yet been found, and the existence of rings is assumed on the basis of the fact that the Cassini probe recorded the deceleration of electrons of Saturn's magnetosphere in the vicinity of Rhea.
20. Scanty weight of rings
Appearance is deceiving
Despite the apparent huge size, the rings are actually quite "light". More than 90% of the mass of all matter in orbit of Saturn is in the largest of the 62 satellites of this planet, Titan.
21. Cassini division
The biggest gap between the rings
The Cassini division is the largest gap between the rings (its width is 4700 km). It is located between the main rings B and A.
22. Pandora and Prometheus
Satellites contain the scattering of rings in space
The gravitational pull of some of Saturn's moons - especially Pandora and Prometheus - also affects the rings. Thus, they restrain the dispersion of the rings in space.
23. Ring of Phoebe
The ring rotates in the opposite direction
Astronomers recently discovered a new, huge ring around Saturn, dubbed the "Phoebe ring." Located at a distance of 3.7 to 11.1 million kilometers from the planet's surface, the new ring is tilted 27 degrees compared to the rest of the rings and rotates in the opposite direction.
24. A billion planets such as Earth can fit in the ring
The new ring is very sparse
The new ring is so rarefied that one can fly through it without noticing a single debris, despite the fact that a billion planets such as Earth can fit in the ring. It was discovered by accident in 2009 using an infrared telescope.
25. Many of Saturn's moons are icy
Satellites formed from distant rings
Due to the recent discoveries made in 2014, scientists believe that at least some of Saturn's moons may have formed within the rings of this planet. Since many of Saturn's moons are icy and ice particles are the main component of the rings, it has been hypothesized that the moons formed from distant rings that existed before.
