Will the planet Saturn rings fall onto the planet over time?

Question

I spoke with someone who's hobby is astronomy and he informed me that over a period of time-like 6 million years or so- that Saturn's rings will fall onto the planet due to Saturn's gravity. He told me the rings are too close to the planet and prevented a moon from forming or Saturn's gravity destroyed a moon. Either way he says the rings at some point will be a thing of the past. Is this true?

Answer 1

I don't think there is a consensus yet among scientists as to what will happen to the rings over time. NASA research scientest Jeff Cuzzi has stated that the outer rings are losing angular momentum to small moons outside the rings and that they will eventually collapse inward. Other scientists like Larry Esposito of the University of Colorado believe that the rings may be visible for billions of years to come. The astronomer you talked to may be quoting from a particular theory, but there currently several, so for now we can't be sure what will happen to Saturns rings.

Answer 2

Well for one thing Smoove there is wrong and your friend is right . Moons form if they are far enough away rings form if they are close enough saturn will eventually eat its rings and we will eventually loose our moon

Answer 3

theoretically, it is true. the rings are made up of dust which are suspended due to the strength of Saturn's gravitational pull. if the gravitational pull remains constant, the rings should remain constant. if the gravitational pull increases, the rings of dust would crash to the planet, or collapse further in creating some dense atmosphere.

Answer 4

The rings are indeed unstable over long time scales.