i need some extra help on my science projuect.
2006-06-05 10:38:00 · 2 answers · asked by soccer allie <3 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Easy question first, they are there because the gravitational pull of Saturn caused 2 or more objects to collide with enough velocity for the debri not to fall to saturn.
Now the hard one, according to NASA:
"Cassini found that the inner and outer parts of ring B contain rings that are hundreds of kilometers wide (hundreds of miles) and vary greatly in the amount of material they contain. A thick, 5,000-kilometer-wide (3,100-mile) core contains several bands with ring material that is nearly four times as dense as that of ring A and nearly 20 times as dense as that of ring C."
2006-06-06 05:48:49 · answer #1 · answered by Ilya R 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
They most likely formed via tidal disruption of a moon. You know how things orbit at different rates depending on their altitude. Well, for a big enough object the ends are trying to orbit at rather different rates, and the object gets torn apart. Because the gradient in gravity (the rate at which it changes) is larger as you get closer to a planet, tidal disruption affects smaller and smaller bodies. So, if a moon is in a decaying orbit, eventially it will reach a place where the tidal forces are larger than its own gravity and it will be torn apart. After that, the bumping and grinding of these even lower gravity bits will quickly pulverize the thing (quickly in astronomical terms).
Io will probably meet this fate. It is one of Jupiter's moons and tidal forces are what keep it heated and nearly molten. That energy is coming from Io's orbital energy mostly. Eventually it will be too close to Jupiter and Jupiter will sport a nice ring for 100million years or so.
Another amazing thing about Saturn's rings is how thin they are. They are only a 100 meters or so thick...about the length of a football field. That seems big, but remember the SIZE of them in the radial direction! Below I posted a link of what Saturn looks like every 20 odd years when we are seeing the rings edge on from earth.
2006-06-07 15:55:24 · answer #2 · answered by Mr. Quark 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
really big and cuz they have 2
2006-06-05 11:51:45 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
there is too much information too right down so i suggest you go here....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn%27s_rings
2006-06-05 11:30:51 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
because God make it like that.
2006-06-05 18:58:27 · answer #5 · answered by Sobekkara 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋