| Submit your comments on this article |
| Science & Technology |
| Saturn's rings are disappearing at a 'worst-case scenario' rate, NASA says |
| 2018-12-19 |
| Saturn is losing its signature rings at a "worst-case scenario" rate, said NASA scientists, and the bands could disappear completely within 100 million years. I blame global warming. In a study published Monday in the journal "Icarus," researchers confirmed Saturn's rings are disappearing at the maximum rate first estimated through observations by Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 space probes that launched in the 1970s. The rings are being pulled into the planet "by gravity as a dusty rain of ice particles under the influence of Saturn’s magnetic field," NASA said. The phenomenon is called "ring rain," and it drains enough water from rings to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool every 30 minutes, said James O’Donoghue of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "From this alone, the entire ring system will be gone in 300 million years," O'Donoghue said in a statement. "But add to this the Cassini-spacecraft measured ring-material detected falling into Saturn’s equator, and the rings have less than 100 million years to live." Scientists are still trying to learn how Saturn gained its rings, which consist mostly of ice and rock ranging from the size of a grain of sand to that of a house, NASA said. The study suggests Saturn acquired its rings later in its life span, instead of when it formed 4 billion-plus years ago. "We are lucky to be around to see Saturn’s ring system, which appears to be in the middle of its lifetime," said O'Donoghue. An animation released by NASA shows Saturn's inner rings disappearing first as they get sucked into the planet, followed by its outer rings. |
| Posted by:Anomalous Sources |
| #10 Cassini broke Saturn. Sue the West and distribute the proceeds to the Third World. |
| Posted by: KBK 2018-12-19 22:18 |
| #9 If global warming is caused by increased solar activity (as seems by higher temperatures measured on Mars) this sort of thing would be expected or even predictable. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2018-12-19 15:24 |
| #8 HAL9000: Sorry, Dave. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2018-12-19 14:48 |
| #7 The need to cut back on the industrialization and emissions. Say, isn't Thanos from one of Saturn's moons? It all makes sense now. |
| Posted by: charger 2018-12-19 09:48 |
| #6 All those darn Saturn SUVs driving around on the rings! |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2018-12-19 09:06 |
| #5 Send AlGore! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2018-12-19 07:21 |
| #4 The difference between the ~300 million and ~100 million time frames is Trump's fault no doubt. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2018-12-19 07:02 |
| #3 The evil scourge of Gerbil Worming strikes again! |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2018-12-19 06:59 |
| #2 Climate change of course |
| Posted by: Slolutle Cloluse3142 2018-12-19 06:22 |
| #1 ...100 million years? Please forgive me if this isn't on my 'deal with immediately' list. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2018-12-19 04:01 |