Rings of Saturn

Seen from the Earth, the rings of Saturn look like symmetrical circles surrounding the gaseous planet. But it is known that these rings are much more complex than they appear. They are made of ice, particles of dust and rocks of all sizes which do not all follow the same "rules".

The origin of the rings is not known for certain, but scientists believe they were formed from the cloud of dust and gas that enveloped Saturn while it was forming. They are almost certainly not as old as the planet.

To explain how they were formed, it is thought that a comet passed too close to Saturn and was disintegrated by the planet's gravity, or perhaps and ancient moon was struck by a massive object and shattered. The remains of the moon would then have continued in orbit around the planet. But it is also possible that both these events took place and were together responsible for the formation of the rings.

The ring system extends for more than 282,000 km, but they are very thin. In some places, they are no more than 30 metres thick. In all, they are hardly more massive than Mimas, a medium size moon of Saturn.

Note that the rings have been named using letters in the order of their discovery and not by their position relative to Saturn. The closest ring to the planet is ring D, followed by C, B, A, F, G and E, the furthest ring.