Saturn’s rings are among the most iconic features of any planet in the Solar System. They are believed to have only recently formed, about 100 million years ago. However, it is still unclear how they came to be so lately.

Researchers say that the destruction of a moon that used to orbit Saturn could explain how the planet’s famous rings and axial tilt came to be so young.

Saturn’s rings are among the most iconic features of any planet in the Solar System. They are believed to have only recently formed, about 100 million years ago. However, it is still unclear how they came to be so lately.

Furthermore, theories for the planet’s tilt, or obliquity, and Titan’s peculiar orbit have eluded scientists.

In order to address this, Jack Wisdom and colleagues present a solution that addresses all three of these mysteries using data from the most recent Cassini mission and numerical simulations.

Wisdom et al. say that about 150 million years ago, there was a violent event in the Saturn system that threw off the orbit of a moon they call Chrysalis, causing it to pass close enough to the planet to be torn apart by tidal forces and form Saturn’s young rings.

The authors say that the same thing could have caused Titan’s eccentricity to get to where it is now and could also explain why Saturn is tilted.

In a related Perspective, Maryame El Moutamid comments, “Wisdom et al. provide a possible mechanism for explaining Saturn’s close proximity to the precession resonance with Neptune and the seemingly young age of its rings.”

“To further corroborate these claims,” adds Maryame El Moutamid, “further research will need to better define the polar moment of inertia of Saturn and the likelihood of similar events occurring for other planets with rings.”

Source: 10.1126/science.abn1234

Image Credit: Getty

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