Imagine our solar system without Saturn and her spectacular rings; but unfortunately they won’t last forever.
Studies conducted over the past three years show that Saturn’s iconic rings are rapidly disappearing into its core at an astonishingly rapid rate – enough water is being lost each half hour for this “ring rain” phenomenon to fill an Olympic-sized pool!
Thus, the rings could completely dissipate within 300 million years.
Why?
Astronomers have long been mesmerized by Saturn’s rings, an incredible array of tiny chunks of ice and rock that extend out from its edge like tiny chains of beads. Any basic telescope can see them, yet their formation remains unknown. One popular theory suggests they might have formed due to fragments left from an extinct moon or comet collision; another suggests gravitational interactions between Saturn and one of its moons could also account for them.
No matter their source, Saturn’s rings will eventually fade. Thanks to Cassini spacecraft data, scientists have determined that Saturn’s rings are being stripped away of material at an unprecedented pace – known as “ring rain,” in fact – losing enough material every half hour to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool!
Ring Rain is caused by Saturn’s gravity pulling particles from its rings into its atmosphere, where they are heated by radiation from the planet and eventually dissipate, leaving behind completely empty rings which eventually vanish from sight.
Astronomers have recently revealed in Science that the loss of ring material is caused by mysterious “shepherd moons.” Shepherd moons are large moons that orbit close to Saturn’s rings and help maintain proper shapes for them, while gravitational interactions between shepherd moons and individual particles cause shifts over time causing mass to shift off, ultimately dissolving entire rings over time.
Discovering this phenomenon could have serious ramifications for planetary science and may result in the destruction of Earth’s own rings – visible testaments to nature that showcase their beauty – becoming extinct. Scientists are currently researching ways to stop this process but it will likely take considerable effort and perseverance on their part to do so.
How?
Astronomers believe Saturn’s icy rings will soon disappear for a fleeting moment before reappearing due to planetary geometry; due to being thin, these icy rings only show up once every 13-16 years – this event known as ring plane crossing will take place in March 2025.
As such, they enable us to observe Saturn from Earth using binoculars or telescopes – something which may only last for approximately one year before returning back to their regular positions with respect to the planet’s surface again.
Astronomers anticipate they’ll reappear around 2027 and their return could be even more spectacular due to a study released in 2019 which indicates ice particles in Saturn’s rings are slowly being dislodged by its gravitational pull.
“Ring Rain,” which involves dusty showers of ice particles falling onto our planet and being pulled in by its gravity, likely accounts for why rings disappear so rapidly upon crossings of their plane. According to NASA reports, enough material from each half-hour shower fills an Olympic-sized swimming pool every half hour – so this may explain why ring-plane crossings seem to vanish so swiftly.
Scientists speculate that Earth’s rings haven’t had much time to collect an impressive layer of debris. After the solar system formed four billion years ago, rings began forming shortly thereafter.
So far, they’re quite thin and still being worn away by meteoroids that collide into them, creating a chain reaction of impacts which create tiny particles which fall to earth’s gravity and are consumed.
Researchers estimate that approximately one quarter of Saturn’s rings are currently being worn away, which may explain why scientists believe they won’t last more than 100 million years – which doesn’t seem too long when considering that Saturn is 4 billion years old!
What’s happening?
Few parts of our solar system can rival Saturn’s rings in terms of visual distinction or beauty, yet they may be disintegrating more quickly than we once believed.
Astronomers first noticed the gradual depletion of Earth’s outermost rings in the 1980s when Voyager spacecraft passed by on its tour through outer planets. NASA reported in 2018 that Earth’s rings are rapidly dissolving, potentially disappearing in 300 million years according to their worst-case scenario. They comprise billions of particles made up mostly of ice and rock that range in size from grains of sand up to mountains. As they pass by, passing particles are electrified as they collide with Saturn’s rings magnetic field and pulled in by gravity into its upper atmosphere where they vaporize – this process is known as “ring rain.” Astronomers estimate that enough ice falls from Saturn’s rings into its atmosphere every hour to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool in half an hour!
Scientists don’t yet fully understand how Saturn’s rings formed, but it likely happened early in solar system history when things were still young and boisterous. A broken moon from another planet may have collected pieces of ice and rock and scattered them around Saturn’s center, creating rings not much older than our own.
Some scientists have hypothesized that Saturn’s rings may be younger than anticipated because they haven’t been darkened and eroded over billions of years by meteoroids colliding with them, as would normally occur for objects orbiting for such long durations. New research published May 12 in Science Advances and 15 days later in Icarus backs this notion; using Cassini data which shows their rings don’t exist since ancient times.
But there’s more to the story: Saturn’s rings could be darkening due to changes in how sunlight illuminates them as Saturn moves around its 29.4-year orbit, changing their exposure to sunlight and their response to UV light from Saturn’s magnetic field – leading them to either dissipate faster or remain intact longer, creating darker or brighter rings as time progresses.
What’s the solution?
Since 1610 when astronomer William Herschel first spotted Saturn’s rings with his telescope, these spectacular swathes of ice and rock have delighted generations of skygazers. Unfortunately, we still do not understand everything about them; for example, their age may be younger than thought – for years we assumed they were at most 100 million years old but recent research suggests otherwise and their destruction could occur sooner rather than later.
Astronomers have recently discovered that Saturn’s rings are dissolving at an alarmingly fast rate due to a process known as “ring rain.” This dusty rain of icy particles falls onto its planet as it rotates, which eventually thins out and lessens density until they vanish altogether – NASA estimates this process pulls enough material every half hour to fill an Olympic swimming pool!
Saturn’s rings are composed of millions of tiny particles ranging in size from microns to mountains. As Saturn rotates, these particles become exposed to differing degrees of sunlight which charges some ice particles that then attach themselves magnetic fields surrounding Saturn, before hitting Saturn’s upper atmosphere where they eventually vaporize into “ring rain”.
Keck Telescope observations in Hawaii confirm ring rain as taking place and that this event is causing dark bands in Saturn’s rings to appear, due to their being charged by sunlight or plasma fields and flowing down towards its upper atmosphere, before discharging and eventually dissipating into space and eventually dissolving into vapour, leaving dark rings behind.
Researchers suspect that Saturn’s seasons may influence its ring rain, with its size shifting as Saturn draws more closely under the shadow of Earth’s atmosphere and away from Saturn’s rings. Amounts could vary with season changes and researchers hope to witness further evidence of this effect.