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SATURN |
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Saturn's Rings
The rings of Saturn are consist of icy moonlets. These icy moonlets
are composed of objects as small as dust particles to objects the size of icebergs, or
even larger. However, most of the objects that make up the rings are in the range of one
to five centimeters. The surface of the icy moonlets is generally water, however, some
impurities have been found.
*Measured from the centre of Saturn to the innermost edge of the ring
While the rings are over 250,000 km in diameter, they are at the very most, 1.5 km thick. Generally, the rings are between 10 and 100 meters thick. However, despite this large diameter, most the rings are empty space. If the rings were compacted into a single body, they would be no more than 100 km across. There are a thousand individual rings around Saturn; however, these are grouped into seven main rings. Of these seven rings, the A and B-rings are the predominant ones, followed by the C-ring. There is a large gap between the A and B-rings, called the Cassini division. This was named after Jean Cassini, the discoverer of the gap. The gap is about 4800 km wide; however, this changes throughout its length. There is a much smaller gap beyond the A-ring, called the Encke Gap; however, this was likely never seen by Encke. There are lesser gaps throughout the rings of Saturn, however, they are not as important as the Cassini and Encke Gaps. The gaps throughout the rings are caused by the gravitational pull of the satellites on the particles of the rings. The satellites responsible for this are called "shepherding satellites." The outermost ring of Saturn is the F-ring. This ring is an intricate structure made up of smaller rings along which "knots" are found. These "knots" are believed to be clumps of ring material or possible mini moons. The rings are moving around Saturn, and complete one revolution about
every 10 hours. The particles closer to the planet, however, move at a greater velocity
than those in the outer parts of the rings. |
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