Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh
Saturn's rings appear pristine, but a study by Ryuki Hyodo suggests their youth is deceptive.
Hyodo’s findings indicate the rings may date back 4.5 billion years to the chaotic early solar system.
In their infancy, the solar system's migrating planetary bodies could have triggered ring formation.
High-speed impacts vaporize micrometeoroids, preventing debris from dirtying Saturn’s icy rings.
Vapor from collisions forms nanoparticles, escaping Saturn's gravity or entering its atmosphere.
Physicist Sascha Kempf challenges the findings, sticking to his estimate of a 400-million-year-old age.
Credit: University of Colorado Boulder
Lotfi Ben-Jaffel praises Hyodo’s work but calls for refined modeling to pinpoint the rings’ age accurately.
The age of Saturn's rings remains a mystery, fueling intense discussions in planetary science.
Credit: NASA
Despite scientific debates, Saturn’s rings endure as one of the most enigmatic marvels of our solar system.
Credit: NASA