For a long time I have wondered why Saturn's Rings are always there. They are so amazing to see in a telescope, picture, or even on-line. So I was wondering what makes up Saturn's Rings?
Galileo Galilei was the first person known to have reported observations of Saturn's rings, in 1610. Galileo was not actually able to see the rings but in 1655, Christiaan Huygens was the first person to propose that there was a ring surrounding Saturn. The rings show intricate structure some of this structure is from the gravitational effect of shepherding moons. Saturn does not actually have one ring, it actuall has 7 major ring divisions of rings. There are several gaps between the rings, all of which are caused by "orbital resonances." There are thousands of rings made of up billions of particles of ice and rock. The particles range in size from a grain of sugar to the size of a house. The rings are believe to be pieces of comets, asteroids or shattered moons that broke up before they reached the planet. Each ring orbits at a different speed around the planet.
The rings of Saturn are a magnificant sight to see and something that would be amazing to be able to study and learn about!
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