Why and how are there rings around planets like Saturn?

Question

Are they solid? Why don't we have rings around Earth? What do they do?

Answer 1

The rings of Saturn (and other planets) are not solid, they are composed of billions of tiny clumps of ice. It is unknown how old they are or exactly how they formed. But many objects in the outer solar system are composed mostly of ice, including some of Saturn's moons like Mimas and Enceladus.

Rings will form whenever an object of low enough density orbits too close to a planet. When that happens, the tidal forces can be large enough to tear the object apart, causing a ring to form in the orbit of the object. The "too close" point is called the Roche Limit, after the astronomer who first computed it.

In the case of Saturn, the rings might be material from a Moon that failed to form in the first place, or from a moon that formed farther out and perhaps got pushed or collided into an orbit too close to the planet.

In Earth's vicinity, the Sun is so close that water in space will not remain ice, but will vaporize instead. That means that only denser stuff, like rock, can stay solid. And the Roche Limit for dense objects like rock is a lot closer than for lighter materials like ice. In fact the Roche Limit for earth is so close that anything within the limit would be in an orbit that would long ago have decayed, bringing the particles into earth's atmosphere.

Answer 2

Rings are basically debris in the form of grains of sand all the way up to small moons, like an asteroid belt that orbit the planet. There are usually some larger asteroids that are considered "shepard moons" These shepard moons keep the debris from degrading into the atmosphere and burning up as meteors.

If the planet is a gas giant the extreme gravitational pull of the planet traps debris that comes close to the planet. It is possible that a couple or more moons collided with each other and exploded into debris and asteroids, and the left overs are now circling the planet. It is also possible that the debris is just leftovers from when the planet was formed, or possibly ejections from a huge volcanic eruption or a catastrophic meteorite collision.

Answer 3

No rings are not solid but made up of debris, usually considered the remnants of a moon that broke up under tidal forces caused by the planets gravitational pull. You have to have moons to break up before you can get rings. Earth only has one and it is still here.

Answer 4

once i have read in an astronomy magazine that one of the reasons of such rings around saturn is volcanic eruptions of some of its moons but generaly they are debrises and fragments that they have not the sufficient gravational force to conglomorate and creat a moon there were such debrises around earth millions of years ago but you see that know they are so few and they have became part of the moon.(i say debris but some of them maybe are kilometers!)