This also means that the rings did not form at the same time as Saturn or the other planets. These may seem like lengthy time scales, but they are less than one-tenth of the 4.5 billion-year age of the solar system. They found that the rings are no older than 400 million years and may be as young as 100 million years. Using data from the CDA, the authors in the new paper compared the current dust counts in space around Saturn with the estimated mass of dark dusty material in the rings. One of the instruments aboard was the Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA). It reached Saturn in 2004 and entered orbit around the planet, where it stayed until the end of the mission in 2017. Over time, the dust gradually darkens the rings and adds to their mass.Ĭassini-Huygens was a robotic spacecraft launched in 1997. When in-falling dust passes through, it can collide with icy particles in the rings.
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The rings extend from some 2,000km above Saturn’s cloud tops to about 80,000km away, occupying a large area of space. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute Collision course
A view of Saturn’s northern hemisphere in 2016.
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