2007-09-24 12:18:52 · 12 answers · asked by brianjosh2022 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
The rings of Saturn are mostly if not entirely made of water ice. Composed of pieces of ice ranging from the size of an office building down to finer than cigarette smoke, the rings span more than 200,000 miles of space and yet are less than half a mile thick. Moreover, these rings could not have formed with Saturn, they were created from the destruction of a small moon or other body that was shattered in a collision and the pieces from that collision formed the rings. It is thought they are at least 100 million years old, and in time the rings will fade and become dim like the ones around the other giant planets. The rings of Saturn are held in place by gravitational interaction between them and numerous small moons near, inside and outside the rings.
2007-09-24 12:51:50 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Saturn's rings are mostly made of ice, with a bit of rock and dust in them as well.
2007-09-24 12:24:31 · answer #2 · answered by Jon 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
182Pilot is absolutely correct. All the gas giants have rings - although Saturn's are the easiest to detect. And they are mainly rock and dust, with a small amount of gas thrown in. Possibly from the destruction of a moon, although it appears to have become an accretion disk for a new moon.
2007-09-24 12:39:29 · answer #3 · answered by Me 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I've marked the answers that say "gas" as wrong, because, as far as I know, there's no significant amount of gas in the rings. They are solid particles of ice and rock, covering a wide range of sizes, but gas could not be retained in the rings for any length of time.
2007-09-24 13:09:42 · answer #4 · answered by GeoffG 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dust, gas, and ice particles more than likely caused from the collision of one of Saturn's moons with another one.
2007-09-24 14:02:15 · answer #5 · answered by zahbudar 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mostly rocky material, dust and ice, probably from the destruction of a moon revolving around the planet.
Jupiter, and I believe Uranus and Neptune, also have rings, just smaller and fainter.
2007-09-24 12:22:22 · answer #6 · answered by 182Pilot 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
The same stuff that the rings around Uranus is made of...Duh!
2007-09-24 12:23:37 · answer #7 · answered by theGODwatcher_ 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
microscopic dust, sand, pebbles, rocks, boulders
2007-09-24 12:46:56 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
gas, dust, debree, rock and ice
2007-09-24 12:22:24 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
gas and rocks
2007-09-24 12:21:13 · answer #10 · answered by alaniss2 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋