Cassini: Saturn Rings - Science@NASA
WEBCassini found that water jets from the moon Enceladus provide much of the material in Saturn’s E-ring, a diffuse ring outside of the bright, main rings. Cassini studied features in Saturn’s rings called “spokes,” which can be longer than the diameter of Earth.
Rings | Science – NASA Solar System Exploration
WEBCassini found that much of the material for Saturn's E-ring—a diffuse ring outside the bright, main rings—comes from the moon Enceladus, which is venting icy particles and gas into space as it orbits Saturn.
Rings of Saturn - Wikipedia
WEBThe rings of Saturn are the most extensive and complex ring system of any planet in the Solar System. They consist of countless small particles, ranging in size from micrometers to meters, [1] that orbit around Saturn. The ring particles are made almost entirely of water ice, with a trace component of rocky material.
Saturn Facts - Science@NASA
WEBSaturn's rings are thought to be pieces of comets, asteroids, or shattered moons that broke up before they reached the planet, torn apart by Saturn's powerful gravity. They are made of billions of small chunks of ice and rock coated with other materials such as dust.
What are Saturn's rings made of? - Live Science
WEBJan 14, 2022 · Saturn's rings are an array of rocky and icy fragments, which scientists believe to be pieces of moons, asteroids and comets, according to NASA. The theory is that these giant rocks were...
Saturn's Rings: Composition, Characteristics & Creation | Space
WEBNov 8, 2017 · Composition and structure. Saturn's rings are made up of billions of particles ranging from grains of sand to mountain-size chunks. Composed predominantly of water-ice, the rings also draw in...
Why does Saturn have rings? - NASA Space Place
WEBSep 22, 2017 · Scientists have ideas about why Saturn has rings, but no one knows for sure. What are Saturn's rings made of? Are they solid like the CD you used to make your model? Or are they made of many particles dancing in formation around the planet? Four robotic spacecraft from Earth have visited Saturn—Pioneer 11, Voyager …
An Evolving View of Saturn’s Dynamic Rings | Science - AAAS
WEBWe review our understanding of Saturn’s rings after nearly 6 years of observations by the Cassini spacecraft. Saturn’s rings are composed mostly of water ice but also contain an undetermined reddish contaminant.
The Rings of Saturn - NASA
WEBIf you look at the pictures of Saturn (like the Hubble picture), you'll notice that the rings aren't one uniform disk; the ring system is actually made up of a series of concentric rings, some of which are brighter than others.
NASA’s Cassini Reveals New Sculpting in Saturn Rings
WEBJun 13, 2019 · Like a planet under construction inside a disk of protoplanetary material, tiny moons embedded in Saturn’s rings (named A through G, in order of their discovery) interact with the particles around them. In that way, the paper provides further evidence that the rings are a window into the astrophysical disk processes that shape our solar system.