Published on 06 Oct 2025
A new study by researchers challenges the idea that Saturn’s rings are young.
Saturn, mostly hydrogen and helium, has bright-white rings made of ice and rock.
NASA’s Cassini Orbiter found them unusually clean, suggesting they are only 100 million years old, as older rings should have accumulated dust.
However, new computer models show dust particles evaporate and disperse when colliding with ice, keeping the rings clean regardless of age.
The study also highlights Enceladus, Saturn’s geologically active moon, whose cryovolcanic water plumes contribute material to the rings, impacting their composition and age estimation.
Four planets in our Solar System have rings: Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune. Saturn has the most prominent and extensive ring system, composed mainly of ice and rock. Jupiter’s rings are faint and made of dust from its moons, while Uranus has thin, dark rings consisting of ice and rock. Neptune’s rings are also faint and fragmented, with some bright arcs. Among these, Saturn’s rings are the most visible, whereas the others require telescopes to observe.
Study on Age of Saturn's Rings
Saturn
Saturn rings
solar system
space science
Universe
Big bang theory