FACTS AND STUNNING PICTURES ABOUT SATURN'S RINGS

IN 1610, FAMOUS ASTRONOMER AND CHURCH

ENEMY GALILEO GALILEI WAS THE FIRST PERSON

TO POINT HIS TELESCOPE AT SATURN. HE NOTED

SEEING ODD, EAR-LIKE SHAPES AT THE PLANET'S

SIDE. SINCE HIS TELESCOPE WAS NOT POWERFUL

ENOUGH, HE DIDN'T REALIZE THE VIEW WAS OF

SATURN'S RINGS

SATURN'S RINGS ARE MADE OF BILLIONS OF

PIECES OF ICE AND ROCK, RANGING IN SIZE

FROM A GRAIN OF SALT TO A SMALL MOUNTAIN

WE CAN SEE FIVE PLANETS WITH THE NAKED EYE:

MERCURY, VENUS, MARS, JUPITER, AND SATURN.

TO SEE SATURN'S RINGS RATHER THAN JUST A

BALL OF LIGHT, YOU'LL NEED A TELESCOPE WITH

AT LEAST 20 TIMES MAGNIFICATION

THE RINGS ARE NAMED ALPHABETICALLY BASED

ON THEIR DATE OF DISCOVERY. CLOSEST TO THE

PLANET IS THE D RING, THEN COMES THE C, B, A, F,

JANUS/EPIMETHEUS, G, PALLENE, AND E RINGS

SATURN'S RINGS ARE BELIEVED TO BE

REMNANTS FROM PASSING COMETS (PRIMARILY),

ASTEROIDS, OR BROKEN-UP MOONS, LARGELY

BECAUSE 93% OF THEIR MASS IS WATER IN ICE FORM

THE FIRST PERSON TO ACTUALLY SEE AND IDENTIFY

SATURN'S RINGS WAS DUTCH ASTRONOMER

CHRISTIAAN HUYGENS IN 1655. AT THE TIME, HE

PROPOSED THE GAS GIANT HAD ONE SOLID,

THIN, AND FLAT RING

GEYSERS SHOOTING OUT OF THE MOON ENCELADUS'

SURFACE HAVE CONTRIBUTED ICE TO THE E RING.

THE MOON IS IMPORTANT TO US AS IT CONTAINS

OCEANS WHICH MAY HARBOUR LIFE

EACH OF THE RINGS ORBITS AROUND SATURN

AT A DIFFERENT SPEED

SATURN'S RINGS ARE THE BEST-KNOWN IN THE

SOLAR SYSTEM, BUT THE OTHER GAS GIANT

(JUPITER) AND THE ICE GIANTS (NEPTUNE

& URANUS) ALSO HAVE RINGS