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The second hypothesis is that the rings were never part of a moon, but are instead left over from the original nebular material from which Saturn formed. [citation needed] A 2007 artist's impression of the aggregates of icy particles that form the 'solid' portions of Saturn's rings. These elongated clumps are continually forming and dispersing.
Saturn is named after the Roman god of wealth and agriculture, who was the father of the god Jupiter.Its astronomical symbol has been traced back to the Greek Oxyrhynchus Papyri, where it can be seen to be a Greek kappa-rho ligature with a horizontal stroke, as an abbreviation for Κρονος (), the Greek name for the planet (). [35]
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 planet.
The ring would have formed along the equator due to Earth’s equatorial bulge, similar to how the rings of Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune are also around each of those planets’ equatorial ...
Ring particles modifying Saturn’s upper atmosphere, changing its composition, scientists say. Skip to main content. Sign in. Mail. 24/7 Help. For premium support please call: 800-290-4726 more ...
NASA released up-close images of Saturn's rings. ... See more on Saturn's rings: No telescope on this planet would ever have been able to see this. Cassini left Earth in 1997 and, in its nearly ...
The mosaic was also presented by Carolyn Porco, and dedicated to the late astronomer Carl Sagan, at a ceremony at the Library of Congress in honor of its acquisition of Sagan's papers. [21] In addition, a collage of images submitted by 1,600 members of the public to NASA's Wave at Saturn campaign was released on November 12. [22]
One hypothesis, developed at Oxford University, is that the hexagon forms where there is a steep latitudinal gradient in the speed of the atmospheric winds in Saturn's atmosphere. [22] Similar regular shapes were created in the laboratory when a circular tank of liquid was rotated at different speeds at its centre and periphery.