If Jupiter's mass and diameter are so much greater than that of Saturn, why does Saturn have much more noticable rings due to comets and astroids breaking under its gravity. Jupiter theorhetically, should have more noticable rings, but why did Saturn get them instead???
2006-11-24 14:39:27 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
The reason is because Saturn's mass is made up of Hyudrogen and Helium gas. At the surface of Saturn these two gases are in a gas form. Deeper down below the surface the gases have become liquid. And at the core, the liquid gases have been packed so tightly that the liquid has become a metal. Saturn's diameter is 120,536 Km. The rings of Saturn are hundreds of thousands of miles wide and comprised of water ice chunks from the size of a grain of sand up to hunks several yards wide.
Rather than being formed into a vast cloud, they are formed into a thin ring only several miles deep. This ring of ice particles is very effective in reflecting sunlight. That is why we can see the ring so clearly from Earth.
Jupiter has a diameter of 142,984 Km. Jupiter has a surface composed of Hydrogen and Helium gases similar to that of Saturn, and it also has the same liquid hydrogen and helium below the surface. What Jupiter has that Satrun does not have is a rock, metal, and hydrogen core. Jupiter's mass is 2.5 times
the mass of all the other planets combined. As a result of its huge mass, Jupiter has a gravity and magnetic field which is 20,000 times stronger than Earth's.
In specific answer to your question, the rings of Saturn are not a result of comets and asteroids. The rings of Saturn are collected space ice from all over the galaxy captured by Saturn. The amazing thing about Saturn is that most, not all, of Saturns Moons travel in the same direction. Those that do not, circle in the exact oposite direction. Massive colisions would seem highly probable. Ian Ridpath suggests in his book 'Guide to Stars and Planets' that it is possible that the rings of Saturn are the result of a collision with some moon that strayed to close to Saturn (Page 358).
Regards,
Zah
2006-11-24 15:45:22 · answer #1 · answered by zahbudar 6 · 4⤊ 0⤋
It just is. Maybe a moon just happened to come too close to Saturn and not Jupiter.
Objects that huge, that large and that massive, have gravity gradients too the gravity is stronger further down, the bottom part of the Moon wants to go faster, it's also pulled in more, the upper part wants to go slower. When the differential is too strong for it's substance to stand it will shatter into a million pieces, forming a ring. Earth's Moon would do the same too, were it to come dozens of times closer, it would break (and reek havok on Earth, raising miles high tides and cracking the crust)
Large planets can have comparable moons which are much smaller compared to the planet, thus only the moon gets affected, not the planet.
Small non-round bodies like tiny moons and satellites are not affected, they don't experience strong enough gravity differences.
2006-11-24 21:28:13 · answer #2 · answered by anonymous 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Well, Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 came too close to Jupiter in 1995 and crashed into it...if you think about it...Jupiter's gravity should wipe out the rings faster because it is so much stronger. Saturn, being so light for it's size, should be able to have rings longer when they do occur.
NASA hasn't got that far out? huh? What do they have to do with it? They, nor any other human beings, have any control over such things.
2006-11-24 14:48:04 · answer #3 · answered by star2_watch 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
i'm sorry to supply you the undesirable information, yet your brother is right. Jupiter wins because of the fact this is not in basic terms greater advantageous, yet heavier, very nearly an order of value heavier. Saturn's rings are pathetically skinny, in basic terms some hundred meters thick and made up of tiny products of rock and ice. each bit could be pulled into Jupiter's super gaseous atmosphere and destroyed. i'm particular that Jupiter could additionally go through lots, and ultimately they could in all probability the two soak up one yet another to alter right into one million lots greater advantageous large planet. i could call it Supiter
2016-10-13 01:38:34 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Saturn having rings has nothing to do with comets and astroids "breaking under its gravity".
2006-11-24 16:54:06 · answer #5 · answered by Spellympics 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Saturn's rings are made of bright ice chunks. Jupiter's rings are made of rocky material.
2006-11-24 14:55:46 · answer #6 · answered by Dude 1 · 3⤊ 0⤋
zahbudar suggests that liquid gases become metal at Saturn's core. This would be akin to alchemy. I didn't bother to check the rest of the "facts" in that response, but one should be skeptical.
2013-12-13 16:29:01 · answer #7 · answered by Bob 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
its the reflective ability which decides the noticability of the rings also saturn is a couple million miles closer to us and the sun therefore allowing more light to reach the planet
2006-11-24 15:23:00 · answer #8 · answered by hiya 3 · 1⤊ 4⤋
Oh Nasa hasn't got that far to check it out ... They are behind on the new advancements .. of blowing people up
2006-11-24 14:47:50 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 4⤋
who cares?! mars is the bomb!!
2006-11-24 14:41:39 · answer #10 · answered by spaz 1 · 1⤊ 6⤋