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As many are aware, Saturn is one of the few planets in our solar system that has rings around it. And for many years, astronomers were fascinated with these rings and wondered how they came to be. Well, luckily a new study has finally revealed the answer.
Saturn’s magnificent rings have been a source of wonder and mystery since they were first seen through a telescope.
Scientists from NASA, Durham University, and Glasgow University collaborated to discover that a massive collision between two icy moons could explain why they are so young.
Using high-quality measurements taken from the Cassini spacecraft which spent 13 years studying Saturn’s system after entering its orbit in 2004, scientists developed supercomputer simulations with resolution more than 100 times higher than anything before it.
This data showed the rings were almost entirely composed of ice with very little dust pollution since their formation. This led researchers to believe they must have been created during the most recent period in solar system history.
Dr Vincent Eke from Durham University explained: “We tested a hypothesis for the recent formation of Saturn’s rings and found that an impact of icy moons is able to send enough material near to Saturn to form the rings that we see now.”
The team tested various hypotheses for creating Saturn’s rings and discovered that an impact of two icy moons sent enough material near enough to form them as seen today.
This scenario naturally leads to ice-rich rings because when these progenitor moons smash into one another, rock is dispersed less widely than overlying ice.
The simulations also showed material orbiting farther out could clump together to form moons while staying within what is known as the Roche limit – the farthest orbit where a planet’s gravitational force does not disintegrate larger bodies of rock or ice any closer.
These findings were published in The Astrophysical Journal and provide insight into one of our Solar System’s greatest mysteries.
https://youtu.be/q8FYMhOE6TE
