This is what scientists claim, relying on new data transmitted by the Cassini spacecraft, according to which the material in the rings is regenerated from the disintegration of small moons, compensating for the loss of material that drifts to Saturn or crystallizes into new small moons
The rings of Saturn, the icon of the sixth planet from the Sun, may be older than previously thought. This is what scientists who analyzed new data recently transmitted by the Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn claim.
Saturn's rings are constantly renewed with new materials, which come from the disintegration of small moons, and which compensate for the material lost to the system. In this way they have existed for billions of years and are not a relatively new formation in the solar system. A panel held as part of the American Geophysical Union conference discussed the question of the antiquity of the rings while referring to new data from the Cassini spacecraft, according to which the particles cluster into families moving in a close orbit, and sometimes crystallize to maintain the overall structure of the rings.
The images transmitted by Cassini indicate that the bands of particles surrounding Saturn were also there billions of years ago, and that they probably have a longer lifespan than was commonly thought until now, that we are lucky to be within a range of 100 million years since the formation of the system and that in a few million years will pass until all the particles that make it up sink into the atmosphere of the gas giant.
At the American Geophysical Union conference, Prof. Larry Esposito from the University of Colorado in Boulder said that: "Despite what we thought after the arrival of the Voyager spacecraft to Saturn, that Saturn's rings are young and perhaps at most as old as the dinosaurs - whereas the evidence we have today shows that perhaps they were There for a billion years.
Cassini studies the rings using the Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS). She observes the light reflected from the rings or penetrating through them, in particles ranging from the size of grains to the size of giant cliffs. It turns out that they are heavier than just water-ice flakes, as they thought until now, so the conclusion is that the overall mass of the rings is many times greater than the estimate made in light of the Voyager data.
"We are trying to solve the paradox - why the rings look young, but apparently they are the same age as the solar system, says Prof. Afsusito. According to him, Cassini observed details in the rings that show that they could not have been formed in a relatively young violent event such as a lunar impact because they have features that were formed over a wide range of ages, some ancient and some new.
To illustrate this, they explain that from time to time moons or small moons, which surround Saturn at a low altitude, break up, and their material joins the mass of the rings, and that this is a process that repeats itself, thus enabling the preservation of material in the ring system. In other words, it is an endless recycling process.
On the same subject:
* A configuration in the D ring was formed by a collision in 1984
* The moons Pandora and Prometheus are shepherds of Saturn's rings
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To my father, the editor of the website, Atlantis is supposed to take off on the 19th of Binor
Thanks for the referral, I promise to take care of it as soon as possible, but probably not today.
The cool commenter, if you are so concerned about the increase in the number of idiots you should take the first step to improve the situation (through the window).
Let me know in another 300 years if we exist..
I highly doubt if we will survive another 300 years on this planet.
Also because of the climatic events, also because of the multiple reproduction and especially because of the global terrorism, of which the Arab terrorism is a large part, and also because of the atomic and hydrogen bombs which are capable of destroying the entire population of the earth in no more than a day.
Let's not forget the plagues, the violent bacteria, the mad cow, the bird flu, AIDS, obesity (which causes cardiovascular disease) and others.
Also thanks to the number of people that is growing and with them the number of stupid people is growing (did you know that according to today's data, in another 30-40 years there will be about one-third Haredi and one-third Muslims in the Land of Israel)
Let's hope that we can establish more developed people in the future, after they decipher the brain waves and the parts of it in a complete way.
See you in the future!
To ask, first of all it is possible with the same degree of truth to say that everything in the universe exists forever (or does not exist at all).
And as for the sun swelling up, it won't harm Saturn..
And unlike Saturn, Neptune's rings (yes, it turns out that Neptune has rings) fading away with time.
It seems to me that only the title needs a slight correction: nothing in the universe is 'forever'; Especially in light of the fact that Saturn revolves around a star that in 5 billion years will swell to become a red giant, and certainly in light of the fact that our galaxy is supposed to pass in 2 billion years (well, well, only approximately) for a casual meeting with the Andromeda galaxy. What should worry us is if there will be anyone who will observe these phenomena for so long and humanity will not become extinct first.
you calmed me.
Now we know there is no rush to get to Saturn. The rings will always be there.