Saturn is perhaps one of the most studied of the outer planets. This is because of its rings, which has fascinated astronomers for many years. Scientists have long speculated how the rings were made. Now a new study has been found, and you won't believe what Saturn rings are made of.
A team of researchers has made a new model on how the rings of Saturn has been made. The research team is led by Hyodo Ryuki from Kobe University's Graduate School of Science. Joining him in the research are Professor Sebastien Charnoz from the Institute de Physique du Globe of the Universite Paris Diderot, Professor Ohtsuki Keiji of Kobe University's Graduate School of Science and Project Associate Professor Genda Hidenori of the Earth-Life Science Institute of the Tokyo Institute of Technology.
Saturn's rings are said to be made up mostly of ice particles. About 95 percent of its rings consist of ice particles, the study has found. In contrast, the rings of rings of Uranus and Neptune are darker, which means they have more rocky content.
The study focused on a particular time period of the solar system called the Late Heavy Bombardment, as Kobe University's site reports. This event happened around four billion years ago in the solar system. At that time it's speculated that Pluto-sized objects have been around just beyond Neptune, possibly coming from the Kuiper Belt. These objects may have wandered close enough to Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Through computer simulation, the team then studied how tidal forces from the planets might have affected these objects, according to Science Daily. As these objects passed close to them, material from the objects has been taken which gradually formed the rings of the planets. Further simulation at the supercomputers in the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan showed that the material taken went into high-speed collisions, further shattering them into smaller pieces.
The Kuiper Belt objects that passed by Saturn had their icy mantles taken, while those passing by Uranus and Neptune had both their icy mantle and rocky surface taken as well. That explains why Saturn's rings differ from those found on Uranus and Neptune. The process by which the rings were formed would likely explain as well the rings that might be found on other planets.
With the explanation of how the rings of Saturn has been formed, you won't believe what Saturn rings are made of. It shows how dynamic our solar system was, and still is. In another discovery, the Curiosity rover has found melted metal meteorite recently.
