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Posted by on Apr 18, 2016 in TellMeWhy |

What Are Saturn’s Rings Made Of?

What Are Saturn’s Rings Made Of?

What Are Saturn’s Rings Made Of? You have probably seen Saturn, sixth closest planet to the sun, looking very much like a bright yellow star. When viewed through a telescope, Saturn is the most spectacular planet of all. This is because of its gleaming rings.

The rings are believed to consist of countless numbers of ice-coated rocks, from the size of peas to boulders as big as pianos. The chunks of frozen rocks whirl around the planet’s equator in four separate, flat rings.

It is the sunlight striking the rings that makes them shine. In addition to its rings, Saturn has ten large moons. Deepening the mystery about the moons is the fact that each ring orbits at a different speed around the planet.

Saturn is sometimes called the “Jewel of the Solar System” because its ring system looks like a crown. Saturn is not the only planet with a ring system. All of the gas giants have rings, in fact.

Saturn’s rings stand out because they are the largest and most vivid. The rings have a thickness of up to one kilometer and they span up to 482,000 km from the center of the planet.

Content for this question contributed by Michael Bracht, resident of Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts, USA