Did the Earth ever have rings?

Question

I thought I had heard once that it did in it's earliest stages, but I can't verify. Any replies would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Almost certainly. The Moon was created when an object the size of Mars crashed into Earth less than 100 million years after the Sun was born, some 4.6 billion years ago.

Some of debris circling the Earth became the Moon. Some of it fell back to the Earth. But, before the Moon was completely formed all of that dust probably would have organized into rings.

Answer 2

I believe that the Earth could not have ever had rings around it because it is not a large enough body to attract the particles that form the rings. Planets like Jupiter & Saturn have rings and so to has Neptune and Uranus. These are the four largest planets in solar system and when the big bang happened and there was loads of random dust, they were attracted to the planets gravitational pull and thus made the rings. This is why the Earth never had rings.

The reaon the Sun has not got rings (even though it is the largest body in our solar system) is because everything that got drawn towards it was obviously burnt to nothing from the Sun's power.

Answer 3

Well, possibly during its earliest stages. The earth developed (one theory suggests) from an accreation disc left over after the sun formed.

As various matter in this disc collided and began to stick together, it gained mass and gravitational influence, hence making it grow larger and faster.

Sometime during this growth stage it would be practical that it developed its own disc or ring of other smaller objects and rocks, all of that would sometime eventually end up forming into the earth.

Although this would not be the same type of rings that are formed around Saturn. It would probably lack ice. I would picture it being more like a loosely arranged circle or disc of small meteorlike objects.

Answer 4

It very well might have had one after the impact that formed the moon. A planet about the size of Mars is thought to have hit the Earth at a glancing blow, putting a bunch of material into orbit. That material accreted into what is now the Moon, but for a while it was probably just a ring of debris.

Edit: Darn. I see someone else beat me to this answer while I was typing mine. This is the second time this has happened today. Must be a bit sluggish on the draw or something.

Answer 5

Millions of years ago, a meteor collided with Earth taking off a big chunk of it. Scientists say pieces of Earth were all over orbiting it for a long time.

As time passed the moon formed...it is possible.
I'm a slow typer. Two people already beat me with the same answer

Answer 6

Hi. My guess would be probably. Saturn's rings are temporary and it is believed they are only about 100 million years old. It may have come from a large comet that broke up and this may also have happened near Earth.

Answer 7

it is theorised that the solar system was originally dust floating around and the suns gravity made that dust colide forming bigger and bigger rocks. the rings arouns planets are these dust particles that didnt get bound to a single large mass(planets, moons ect). in simulations i have created rings often form around the 3rd planet from the sun. in a trinary system thought rings of dust form around the 3 suns, and that looks odd.

your answer is mostlikly yes, i believe they were forme into the moon.

Answer 8

any space debri captured by its gravity but still outside the atmosphere probably acculminated into rings from the centrifical force of the spinning earth. eventually the rings collected and became the moon.

Answer 9

I don't think that would make much sense. Rings are mostly made of rock and Ice and dust. The Earth would be too close to the sun for the ice to stay, and that being an integral part of the rings, it wouldn't be logical. But I could be wrong.

Answer 10

I don't the answer. However, if the Earth did have rings. The Moon is large enough, that it would have cleared them from orbit.