Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
The concept that Saturn's rings are made up of a series of tiny ringlets can be traced to Pierre-Simon Laplace, [4] although true gaps are few – it is more correct to think of the rings as an annular disk with concentric local maxima and minima in density and brightness. [2] On the scale of the clumps within the rings there is much empty space.
Fainter planetary rings can form as a result of meteoroid impacts with moons orbiting around the planet or, in the case of Saturn's E-ring, the ejecta of cryovolcanic material. [6] [7] Ring systems may form around centaurs when they are tidally disrupted in a close encounter (within 0.4 to 0.8 times the Roche limit) with a giant
An artist's impression of Rhea's rings. The density of the particles is exaggerated greatly to aid visibility. [1] Rhea, the second-largest moon of Saturn, may have a tenuous ring system consisting of three narrow, relatively dense bands within a particulate disk. This would be the first discovery of rings around a moon.
Saturn has the most spectacular ring system, with seven rings and several gaps and divisions between them. Few missions have visited Saturn: Pioneer 11 and Voyagers 1 and 2 flew by, but Cassini ...
For premium support please call: 800-290-4726 more ways to reach us
Saturn’s rings are seen as viewed by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which obtained the images that comprise this mosaic at a distance of approximately 450,000 miles from Saturn April 25, 2007.
Enceladus orbiting within Saturn's E ring. Plumes from Enceladus, which are similar in composition to comets, [25] have been shown to be the source of the material in Saturn's E ring. [23] The E ring is the widest and outermost ring of Saturn (except for the tenuous Phoebe ring).
Saturn's atmosphere exhibits a banded pattern similar to Jupiter's, but Saturn's bands are much fainter and are much wider near the equator. The nomenclature used to describe these bands is the same as on Jupiter. Saturn's finer cloud patterns were not observed until the flybys of the Voyager spacecraft during the 1980s.