Ever been to the astronomy program the interpreters put on at night? You get to learn about natural resources in our solar system and beyond.
You may know about the sun, moon and stars, but there is much more to learn about. Did you know that nine planets make up our solar system? Our Earth is one of the nine planets.
Many kids ask about another planet called Saturn. At one time it was thought to be the only planet with rings, but now we know three other planets that also have rings.
If you are familiar with the movie Lord of the Rings, you might be interested to know that long before the coming of Sauron and the forging of the “One Ring,” different sorts of rings were being forged around the sixth planet from our Sun—a gas giant that we call “Saturn.”
For thousands of years, people have noticed this planet’s glow in the night sky. In 1610 (about 400 years ago), a famous scientist named Galileo became the first person to observe Saturn and its rings through a telescope.
About 50 years later, another man said that Saturn’s rings were solid, thin, and flat. It took another 200 years before some people began to realize that the rings were actually made of many small, floating particles (pieces). These particles range from microscopic to boulder-sized (some even bigger!) and are made up mostly of ice crystals.
There are seven main rings, named in the order in which they were discovered. If you could hop in a car and drive across the rings, you would travel about 295,800 miles—that’s the same as driving 109 times across the entire United States.
In recent years, scientists have discovered lots of interesting things about Saturn’s rings. Waves move through the rings, making particles rise and fall, just like water in an ocean. Spokes and ripples can also be seen. The gravity of Saturn’s moons pulls on the rings to create the waves, but scientists are not sure what makes the spokes and ripples. One theory is that they are caused by tiny moons orbiting inside the rings.
Scientists thought Saturn was the only planet in our solar system with rings until they discovered rings around Uranus in 1977. Rings have since been found around Jupiter and Neptune, as well. The rings around these other planets are darker and much harder to see than Saturn’s rings.
So, while Saturn may not be the only planet with rings, just like Sauron, its rings still rule them all.
