The rings of Saturn , meanwhile, have been known for centuries. Although Galileo Galilei became the first person to observe the rings of Saturn in , he did not have a powerful enough telescope to discern their true nature.
It was not until that Christiaan Huygens, the Dutch mathematician and scientist, became the first person to describe them as a disk surrounding the planet. Subsequent observations, which included spectroscopic studies by the late 19th century, confirmed that they are composed of smaller rings, each one made up of tiny particles orbiting Saturn.
These particles range in size from micrometers to meters that form clumps orbiting the planet, and which are composed almost entirely of water ice contaminated with dust and chemicals. In total, Saturn has a system of 12 rings with 2 divisions. It has the most extensive ring system of any planet in our solar system. The rings have numerous gaps where particle density drops sharply. Well beyond the main rings is the Phoebe ring, which is tilted at an angle of 27 degrees to the other rings and, like Phoebe, orbits in retrograde fashion.
The rings of Uranus are thought to be relatively young, at not more than million years old. They are believed to have originated from the collisional fragmentation of a number of moons that once existed around the planet. After colliding, the moons probably broke up into numerous particles, which survived as narrow and optically dense rings only in strictly confined zones of maximum stability. Uranus has 13 rings that have been observed so far. They are all very faint, the majority being opaque and only a few kilometers wide.
The ring system consists mostly of large bodies 0. A few rings are optically thin and are made of small dust particles which makes them difficult to observe using Earth-based telescopes. The rings of Neptune were not discovered until until the Voyager 2 space probe conducted a flyby of the planet.
This year, the minimum extent of Arctic sea ice dropped to 1. The lander cleared enough dust from one solar panel to keep its seismometer on through the summer, allowing scientists to study three big quakes.
Researchers will use Webb to observe 17 actively forming planetary systems. Scientists found evidence that an area on Mars called Arabia Terra had thousands of "super eruptions" over a million-year period.
Full Moon Guide: September - October Perseverance successfully collected its first pair of rock samples, and scientists already are gaining new insights into the region. Data received late Sept. The rover will abrade a rock this week, allowing scientists and engineers to decide whether that target would withstand its powerful drill.
Voyager 2 made its closest approach to Saturn on Aug. The mission revealed a planet so phenomenal scientists had to go back. Drought is a complicated problem that requires lots of data. Satellites from NASA and its partners help collect that data. Drought Makes its Home on the Range. Gene Roddenberry would have been years old on Aug. Aurorae occur when charged particles spiral into a planet's atmosphere along magnetic field lines. Voyagers 1 and 2 flew by and photographed Saturn in The next chapter in our knowledge of Saturn took place between and , as the Cassini spacecraft continued its exploration of the Saturn system.
The Huygens probe descended through Titan's atmosphere in January , collecting data on the atmosphere and surface. Cassini has orbited Saturn more than 70 times during a year study of the planet and its moons, rings, and magnetosphere. With its fuel running out, it drew closer to saturn than ever in late , showing an up-close view of the planet for the first time.
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