![]() ![]() Stabilizing resonances, on the other hand, are responsible for the longevity of several rings, such as the Titan Ringlet and the G Ring. The rings have numerous gaps where particle density drops sharply: two opened by known moons embedded within them, and many others at locations of known destabilizing orbital resonances with the moons of Saturn. On the scale of the clumps within the rings there is much empty space. ![]() The concept that Saturn's rings are made up of a series of tiny ringlets can be traced to Pierre-Simon Laplace, although true gaps are few – it is more correct to think of the rings as an annular disk with concentric local maxima and minima in density and brightness. In 1655, Christiaan Huygens was the first person to describe them as a disk surrounding Saturn. In 1610, the year after Galileo Galilei turned a telescope to the sky, he became the first person to observe Saturn's rings, though he could not see them well enough to discern their true nature. Īlthough reflection from the rings increases Saturn's brightness, they are not visible from Earth with unaided vision. Although theoretical models indicated that the rings were likely to have formed early in the Solar System's history, newer data from Cassini suggested they formed relatively late. There is still no consensus as to their mechanism of formation. The ring particles are made almost entirely of water ice, with a trace component of rocky material. They consist of countless small particles, ranging in size from micrometers to meters, that orbit around Saturn. The rings of Saturn are the most extensive ring system of any planet in the Solar System. Earth appears as a dot at 4 o'clock, between the G and E rings. The full set of rings, imaged as Saturn eclipsed the Sun from the vantage of the Cassini orbiter, 1.2 million km (¾ million miles) distant, on 19 July 2013 (brightness is exaggerated). ![]() For other uses, see Rings of Saturn (disambiguation). ![]()
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