What Are the Rings of Saturn Made Of?
The sixth planet from the sun and one of four gas giants, Saturn orbits more than 886 million miles away from our star and sports the most pronounced and beautiful rings in the solar system.
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Description
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The thousands of rings are made up of rock and ice particles ranging in size from a grain of sand to a house. They are most likely pieces of comets and asteroids that settled in around the planet.
Measurements
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The rings are about 3,200 feet thick and span nearly 175,000 miles, three-quarters the distance between the earth and moon. Each ring orbits at a different speed.
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Names
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They are named in order of discovery, with A as the one closest to the planet, and G and E as the outermost. A 2,920-mile gap, called the Cassini Division, divides the F and G rings.
History
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Though Galileo discovered that Saturn had bumps in 1610, it wasn't until 1655 that Christian Huygens proposed that the planet was surrounded by a ring.
Probes
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The Cassini probe is currently orbiting the planet and studying the rings, among other features. Pioneer 11 as well as Voyagers 1 and 2 flew by.
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References
- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Les Chatfield
