How many rings does Saturn have?

Answer 1

The exact number of rings around Saturn is unknown. They are divided into groups, like the main rings and faint rings, based on how densely they are packed and their size. The rings are made up of particles ranging in size from the small molecules that make up smoke to the size of a house. The rings are held in place by Saturn's gravity and are caused by impacts into the planet's surface. The impacts hit and particles immediately go into the ring orbits. There are new ones being formed all the time.

The site I visited to get this information has a lot of great stuff on Saturn; really it should because it's the NASA site. Click on the source and look for your question. They explain it a lot better.

Answer 2

Saturn has a huge ring of dust and rock/ice particles whirling around it in a ring or disc that is hundreds of thousands of miles wide and only several miles thick. The density of the dust, or particles within various portions of the disk is what gives it an apparent series of divisions. In general it is agreed that there are
five main divisions to Saturn's ring. There are faint rings also existing between the main ring and the surface of the planet, and more faint rings extending beyond the main rings. As a result,
a truly precise answer cannot be given.

Saturn has an interesting set of Moons and Moons (yet to be confirmed). It has 34 Moons with 13 waiting to be confirmed.
More may still be discovered. Titan is the largest, followed by Dione, Phoebe, and others. Some are rather small and irregularly shaped. Seventeen of the moons lie within the ring system. Interestingly, some of Saturn's moons travel in one direction of orbit, while the rest travel in exactly the opposite direction. The moon Titan is about the size of the planet Mercury. The moon Phoebe orbits Saturn at a distance of roughly 8 million miles. It is indeed a fascinating planet to study
and seems to have many, many more secrets to reveal to us
over time.

Four space probes have been sent to Saturn so far. Pioneer II,
(1979) Voyagers 1 and 2 (1980 and 1981) were all flyby
missions. The fourth Cassini-Huygens was a joint American
and European venture designed to make a 4 year, in-depth study of the planet. This mission had two probes (Cassini and Huygens). The main probe traveled 7 years to reach the vicinity of Saturn. Casini made 3 orbits around Saturn and then released Huygens on a 21 day flight to Saturn's Moon Titan. Huygens descended to Titan's surface. Casini was programmed to make 74 orbits of Saturn plus flybys of other moons prior to the end of the mission in July of 2008. Data from this space probe flight is still being recieved at various listening posts all around the world.

Answer 3

Saturn has 7major ring divisions and within each of those 7 divisions there may be hundreds or even thousand rings. Some of the rings are so thin the naked eye can't see them even through a telescope!


The rings are divided into 7 major ring divisions. There are two main sections (called rings A and B) plus the smaller ring (Ring C or the Crepe ring), D and F rings; the larger gap in the rings is called the Cassini division; the smaller one is the Encke division. Starting closest to Saturn, the rings and divisions are: D, C, B, The Cassini Division, A, the Encke division, and F (subdivided into G and E, and a ring with visible clumps of matter, called knots).

Hope this helps
Good luck

Answer 4

Based on the latest findings from the Cassini probe, Saturn has five major bands of rings (labeled A-E in order of their discovery; the E was discovered just recently).

However, each of these large rings is composed of what seems to be many smaller rings--and if you count each as a seperate ring, there may be thousands!

Answer 5

in spite of the undeniable fact that there are various gasoline giants with earrings in the photograph voltaic gadget, Saturn's is unique because of its visual charm and length. Tere are six earrings. The earrings are named by using letter -- A, B, C, D, E and F. they do no longer seem to be in alphabetical order, yet are quite in the order wherein they have been found (the quite order, commencing from Saturn, is -- D, C, B, A, F, G and E). A and B are the two brightest earrings, and B is the widest and thickest of the six earrings. C is in many cases stated because of the fact the crepe ring, because of the fact that's totally clean, and D is slightly seen. The F ring is quite slender, and curved. Saturn's earrings are made out of billions of goods of ice, airborne dirt and mud and rocks. a number of those debris are as small as a grain of salt, together as others are as enormous as residences. those chucks of rock and ice are theory to be products of comets, asteroids or maybe moons that have been torn aside by using the sturdy gravity of Saturn till now they might attain the planet.

Answer 6

16

Answer 7

Thousands, according the the latest space craft images. But they all blur together into just a few as seen in even the best telescopes on Earth.

Answer 8

Hundreds of thousands, though they're in 5 groups - G, F, A, B, and C going from the outside in.

Answer 9

14 rings and four gaps, depending on what you would consider a ring.