Monday, October 17, 2011

What's Up With Saturn's Rings?

Saturn's rings are a mystery to most of the human population. We all know they exist, despite them not being visible to the naked eye, but what makes them? Attached above is a picture showing the divides in in the rings orbiting Saturn.

We may know that the rings are made of frozen particles of dust that surround the planet, but that just makes the fact that they form rings more curious. Dust and ice, while on earth, do not form rings, so why would they in space? Well, science has the answer.

The rings are divided up into the A ring, B ring, and so on, all the way out until the farthest away ring, the Phoebe ring. In the space that makes the A or B rings into rings, we find Saturn's moons. The orbit of the moons creates the rings we see on Saturn! Look again at the picture above and see the gaps between the rings. Think about how a moon creates that gap. Those rings must be massive! How great is the art of the universe. God is good.

There is still much to be learned about Saturn's rings, like how the outermost ring is formed (no moon is yet found for that ring). Either way, they are one of the most interesting and beautiful sights to be seen in our solar system.

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