How Were Saturn's Rings Formed?
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The rings around Saturn are one of the most beautiful and mysterious formations in the planetary system. While Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus are also ringed planets, none is as spectacular as Saturn's rings. Even though ring formation around the larger planets in our solar system seems to be common, scientists are still unsure as to what caused Saturn's rings to form. Three main theories attempt to explain how Saturn's rings were formed. Whatever the cause, it is undeniable that the rings of Saturn are a source of wonder for many.
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Scientists believe that one of three possible scenarios lead to the formation of Saturn's rings. The first of these is that the rings are made of matter left over from the early solar system that never formed into satellites because they were within the Roche limit of the planet. The Roche limit is the closest a smaller body can get to a larger body without being ripped apart. When a smaller orbiting body finds its way inside the Roche limit, it is torn apart by the gravitational pull of the larger body it is orbiting, creating rings of scattered material around the larger body. The Roche limit for Saturn is 92,000 miles from the surface of the planet.
Another potential cause of Saturn's rings has to do with a moon of Saturn. Scientists theorize that a medium-sized moon of Saturn may have been pulled inside the Roche limit around Saturn. This caused the moon to break apart, forming the rings.
Lastly, scientists postulate that the rings are made of a body that once orbited Saturn but was broken apart by meteor impacts. These would have broken the satellite into smaller pieces, which then would have been unable to reform due to the Roche limit and instead would have only been able to orbit the great planet.
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Scientists have studied Saturn's rings to determine what they are made of and have discovered that they are mainly ice made of water. They are also composed of silica and other debris from broken matter. These rings are composed of particles that are as small as dust to as large as a house. The size of the rings varies greatly but is generally thin. All are less than 200 meters thick. They span away from the planet surface for up to 250,000 kilometers. Galileo Galilei was the first person to identify the rings around Saturn in 1610 A.D.
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