PLANETS & MOONS A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z           HOME ABOUT CATEGORIES SITE MAP COPYRIGHT ADVERTISE CONTACT entire Web this site rings of Saturn This mosaic of Saturn and its rings was taken close to equinox, when the Sun crosses the planet's equator. The images were captured on 12 August 2009 by the Cassini spacecraft. Source: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute) The main rings and divisions Artwork of the rings Saturn has the largest and most spectacular ring system in the Solar System; this includes an enormous ring, discovered in 2009 by the Spitzer Space Telescope (see below). Composed of swarms of ice-rock particles ranging in size from a centimeter to several meters across (and possibly even as large as a kilometer), Saturn's rings are much brighter (with an albedo of up to 0.6) than any other known planetary rings. Though some 170,000 km wide (more if the tenuous outer portion of the E-ring is included), the rings are only about a kilometer or so thick and have a total mass of about 0.01 that of the Moon. When Earth occasionally moves through the same angle as the rings, which are slanted at 27°, they almost completely disappear from view. The rest of the time, only the outer A-ring, the brighter B-ring and the bluish inner C-ring are clearly visible through telescopes on Earth, together with several dark gaps, including the Cassini Division and the Encke Division, in which ring material is much sparser. Four additional faint rings together with a wealth of other complex and puzzling features were discovered or confirmed by the Voyager probes. Among these features are puzzling radial inhomogeneities called spokes, first reported by amateur astronomers, that may be an effect caused by Saturn's magnetic field. The F-ring, a narrow, wavy structure just outside the A ring, is confined by two small satellites and consists of at least five individual strands with embedded knots that may be clumps of ring material or mini moons. Voyager 1 images (but not those of Voyager 2) also showed the F ring to have strange braided appearance. Complex tidal resonances exist between a number of Saturn's moons and the ring system. Some of the moons – the so-called shepherd moons, Atlas, Pandora, and Prometheus – are important in keeping the rings in place; Mimas seems to be responsible for the paucity of material in the Cassini division; while Pandora is located inside the Encke Division. Saturn's rings and divisions name inner radius (km) outer radius (km) width (km) notes D-ring 67,000 74,500 7,500 Very tenuous. Discovered in 1969 Guerin division         C-ring (Crepe ring) 74,500 92,000 17,500 Gauzy appearance. Discovered by Bond in 1850 Lyot (Maxwell) division 87,500 88,000 500   B-ring 92,000 117,500 25,500 The brightest ring Cassini division 115,800 120,600 4,800 Discovered by Cassini in 1675 Huygens gap 117,680 118,000 285-440   A-ring 122,200 136,800 14,600   Encke minimum 126,430 129,940 3,500   Encke division 133,580 133,910 330   F-ring 140,210   30-500   G-ring 165,800 173,800 8,000   E-ring 180,000 480,000 300,000   Saturn's rings and their shadow, imaged by the Cassini spacecraft Saturn's super-sized ring (Source: Science@NASA) Artist's concept of the giant infrared ring around Saturn In October 2009 the discovery was announced of a colossal new ring around Saturn. The ring only shows up in the infrared part of the spectrum and was found using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The new ring, or belt, is so large that if it were visible in the night sky, it would span the width of two full Moons. The bulk of its material starts about 6 million kilometers (3.7 million miles) away from the planet and extends outward roughly another 12 million kilometers (7.4 million miles); its orbit is tilted 27° from the main ring plane. One of Saturn's farthest moons, Phoebe, circles within the ring, and is likely the source of its material. The ring is tenuous, consisting of widely-dispersed particles of ice and dust. Spitzer's infrared eyes were able to spot the glow of the cool dust, which has a temperature of only about 80 kelvin (-193°C, -316°F). The discovery may help solve an age-old riddle of one of Saturn's moons. Iapetus has a strange appearance – one side is bright and the other is really dark, in a pattern that resembles the yin-yang symbol. The astronomer Giovanni Cassini first spotted the moon in 1671, and years later figured out it has a dark side, now named Cassini Regio in his honor. Saturn's supersized ring could explain how Cassini Regio came to be so dark. The ring is circling in the same direction as Phoebe, while Iapetus, the other rings and most of Saturn's moons are all going the opposite way. According to the scientists, some of the dark and dusty material from the outer ring moves inward toward Iapetus, slamming the icy moon like bugs on a windshield. Related category    • PLANETS AND MOONS Archived news Saturn has a 'giant sponge' (Feb 7, 2008) Also on this site: Encyclopedia of Alternative Energy & Sustainable Living Encyclopedia of History Transport Concepts & Designs (partner site) BACK TO TOP