The frozen debris field
Deciphering the optical illusion
The cosmic traffic controllers
A temporary cosmic masterpiece
YOUR GOAL
Master of The secret life of Saturn's rings
artiteacher A temporary cosmic masterpiece
Billions of ice gems spinning in space, slowly raining away without a trace.
artiteacher Because they are losing mass rapidly, Saturn's magnificent rings are a temporary feature that will eventually vanish entirely.
artiteacher Saturn's powerful magnetic field constantly pulls water ice out of the rings, draining it into the upper atmosphere as ring rain.
artiteacher Drag and smash icy boulders to discover what Saturn's rings really are.
Ring rain: Every thirty minutes, Saturn's rings lose enough water ice to fill an entire Olympic-sized swimming pool.
A celestial phenomenon in which gravity and magnetic fields pull ice particles from planetary rings into an atmosphere. This phenomenon drains an Olympic-sized pool of water from Saturn's rings every thirty minutes.
Why did dinosaurs on Earth 100 million years ago likely see a Saturn that looked very different from what we see today?
According to current scientific estimates, how old are Saturn's prominent rings?
In approximately how many years do scientists estimate Saturn's rings might completely disappear?
What is the name of the process where Saturn's magnetic field pulls water ice from the rings down into the planet's atmosphere?
What is the ultimate fate of the icy particles currently orbiting in Saturn's rings?
How does the age of Saturn's rings compare to the age of the solar system itself?
Which element, heavily detected in Saturn's upper atmosphere by the Cassini spacecraft, proved that 'ring rain' is actively occurring?
What celestial event is most widely believed to have created Saturn's bright rings?