Saturn’s Rings Are Remnants of Massive Moon, Study Says
Saturn's rings. Image credit: NASA/JPL
A new study conducted by scientists at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, has this week posited that Saturn’s rings are the remnants of a massive moon that once orbited Earth’s distant neighbour.
According to study author and astronomer Robin Canup, the moon plunged into Saturn around 4.5 billion years ago due to a giant ring of hydrogen gas responsible for creating rocky satellites but also for dragging larger moons out of orbit.
The scientific theory centres on the predominantly icy composition of Saturn’s rings, The Tech Herald reports. (more…)