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Saturn's Rings

Saturn has the most extensive ring system in our solar system

The rings of Saturn are made up of ice and rock particles. Consists of small particles ranging in size from micrometers to meters. In other words, they can be as big as a mountain or as small as dust particles. However, they are incredibly thin at about 10 meters. This is what gives the rings a very thin-looking shape around Saturn. If someone were to stand on Saturn and look at the rings, they would look white.

Saturn rings are made up of asteroids and comets that get ripped apart from Saturn's powerful gravity. It is also thought that some of the debris could have been made from moons getting shattered. In addition, each ring orbits at a different speed. The Rings were named in the order they were found. The order from closest to Saturn to farthest are D ring, C ring, B ring, Cassini Division, A ring, F ring, G ring, and E ring.

Ring A and B are both the brightest rings that you will see through a telescope. As you can see in the photo above, there is a gap between them. This is the Cassini division, the reason for the gap is because of the gravitational pull of Saturn's moon "Mimas". Ring A is made up of Rocks and ice ranging from the size of houses to about an inch. The C ring, which is closer to Saturn, is very similar to the B ring. It is harder to see because the rocks on the C ring are covered with dark material that makes them fainter than Ring A and B. D ring is made up of the smallest and is made up of microscopic particles. E Ring is the farthest ring from Saturn. E Ring is made up of microscopic particles as well. Located right outside of A ring, The F ring is made up of Strands of intertwining ring particles. Scientists are still not sure how these strands were formed. Finally, the G ring is the most recently discovered ring. Made up of microscopic particles in between the F and E ring.

Galileo Galilei was the first to view Saturn's rings in 1610, albeit they appeared more like handles or arms through his telescope. With a more powerful telescope, Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens hypothesized that Saturn had a thin, flat ring 45 years later, in 1655. Scientists proceeded to discover more about the structure and composition of the rings as better tools were created. According to a 2016 research, the rings might represent the remains of dwarf planets. The biggest ring is 7,000 times the planet's diameter. Although the main rings are only around 30 feet thick, the Cassini-Huygens mission discovered vertical structures in parts of them, with particles building up in bumps and ridges more than 2 miles high. The Cassini spacecraft came closer to the rings than any previous spacecraft late in its mission. Although the data acquired by the probe is still being processed, it has already supplied information on the colors of several of Saturn's moons. The probe discovered highly complex molecules in the "ring rain" of debris falling from the rings into the atmosphere, as well as fresh measurements of the planet's magnetic field, which generates a tremendous electron current, in the gaps between the rings. (NASA)

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