The most important features of the planet Saturn are without a doubt its rings, which are a major target for all amateur astronomers around the world with their small and large binoculars. These rings extend to a width equal to about 5 times the diameter of the entire planet Earth.
Saturn’s rings consist of mainly ice grains and rocks to a lesser extent. The diameters of these grains range between one micrometer and one meter. These rings can contain Saturn’s moons. One example here is the moon “Daphnis”, which is one of Saturn’s moons and rotates between the rings. The diameter of this moon is Only 8 kilometers.
“Daphnis” is one of Saturn’s moons that orbits between its rings, and its diameter is only 8 kilometers (NASA)
Saturn’s rings.. will disappear, but not now
In 2018, a study by scientists from the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) attracted the world’s attention when it confirmed that Saturn’s elegant rings were eroding day after day.
The study indicated that Saturn’s rings are relatively young, as they are only a few hundred million years old, and they gradually lose mass due to various processes, such as “annular rain”, which is the fall of ice particles from the rings into the rings. Atmosphere of Saturn along the planet’s magnetic field lines.
Another process is the erosion of the rings by micrometeorites passing through them, creating dust and debris that can also escape from the rings. These phenomena reduce the mass and brightness of the rings over time.
A Hubble image from May 1995 shows the planet’s rings facing away from us, appearing to have been lost or disappeared (Hubble Telescope)
What will happen in 2025?
Recently, a rumor spread across global media saying that Saturn’s rings will disappear in 2025, and some linked this to the study issued by NASA, but this is completely false. Indeed, Saturn’s rings will disappear in 2025, but they will reappear several years later, around 2027 or 2028, for example, and the reason is nothing but a change in our perspective on Earth of Saturn.
Because of Saturn’s tilt on its axis, the shape of its rings changes relative to us on Earth every year very slowly, in a cycle of about 29 years.
To understand the matter with a degree of clarification, we can consider an image released by the Hubble Telescope of the planet Saturn in the years December 1994 and May 1995, where Saturn appears in the first image and its rings are completely tilted, but because our perspective on it changed, in May 1995 the planet’s rings appeared as if they were not Exists, as astronomers from the Hubble Telescope show.
A Hubble image in 2001 shows the planet’s shape changing over 4 consecutive years (Hubble Telescope)
In another image issued in 2001, astronomers from the Hubble Telescope showed how the shape of Saturn changes during four consecutive years. The rings appeared completely raised in one of the scenes, then they quickly decreased with time. This is normal and repeats itself every 29 years.
This means that there is no need to worry, and there is currently no problem with Saturn’s rings, and if you have a small or medium telescope, it would be good to try to contemplate Saturn’s wonderful rings these days and enjoy them before they disappear from our view completely, and then reappear.
Source: The Conversation + websites + NASA + European Space Agency
