New Theory on How Saturn's Rings Formed

Though the issue of where Saturn's famous rings came from has been debated extensively, a researcher now proposes a groundbreaking new explanation for the peculiar structures.

The expert proposes that the beautiful and thin rings that surround the gas giant are the remnants of a Titan-sized moon that slammed into the planet when Saturn was still in its infancy.

This idea was developed by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) scientist Robin Canup, who has been analyzing the rings for quite some time now.

Astronomers are bound to be shocked by the new proposal, given that the potential explanations for how the rings formed never included such a groundbreaking idea.

Up until this point, two theories have prevailed as to how the multitude of rings around the gas giant appeared. The international scientific community favors them above all other ideas.

The first one states that one of Saturn's former moon was impacted and shattered into oblivion by a space rock – such as an asteroid or comet – which came in from the outer fringes of the solar system.

Researchers believe that this may have happened because all four gas giants in our solar system are known for their roles as protectors and comet magnets. They are impacted very often.

The second leading theory was that a comet that passed too close to Saturn caused tidal disruptions that in the end lead to the formation of the rings.

But Canup reveals an interesting aspect that other researchers seem to have disconsidered, and namely the fact that the rings' rock content appears to grow with time.

Solid matter now makes up about 10 percent of the rings, with the rest being made up of ice particles. This leads to the logical conclusion that the formations were pure ice when they first developed.

The expert says that the rock content increases as small meteorites slam into the rings, and get trapped inside. Over billions of years, the concentration of solid matter increases steadily.

An additional reason why the previous theories don't work, Canup says, is that tidal disruptions would more often occur at the three other gas giants than at Saturn. Evidence of that happening has not yet been produced.

In the new theory, the massive tidal forces that Saturn exerts on its moons destroyed a rocky-cored, ice-covered moon, which was most likely the size of Titan, the largest Saturnine moon.

The icy cover then got distributed around the planet. “The end result is a pure ice ring,” the expert writes in a paper detailing the findings.

The work is published in the latest issue of the esteemed scientific journal Nature, Universe Today reports.