A paper detailing the research has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Separated by more than days, the observations were nearly identical. Such a large ring system, Osborn and his teammates estimated, could only be held in place by a massive central object—potentially a gas-giant planet even larger than Jupiter.
Alternatively, the unseen companion could be a brown dwarf, an object midway in mass between a planet and a star. So far only one other exoplanet has been found sporting rings. Called J b, it is a gas giant on a decade-long orbit around a distant star; astronomers surmised its sprawling, super-Saturnian ring system based only on a single observation from , and will have to wait until the s to glimpse it again. Even a midsize, store-bought telescope should be able to detect the deep shadow of the rings backlit by the star, allowing amateur astronomers to observe and study the system.
Even two sightings could be unrelated. Three, on the other hand, is unlikely to be a statistical fluke. Osborn agrees. In total, Saturn has a system of 12 rings with 2 divisions. It has the most extensive ring system of any planet in our solar system. The rings have numerous gaps where particle density drops sharply. Well beyond the main rings is the Phoebe ring, which is tilted at an angle of 27 degrees to the other rings and, like Phoebe, orbits in retrograde fashion. The rings of Uranus are thought to be relatively young, at not more than million years old.
They are believed to have originated from the collisional fragmentation of a number of moons that once existed around the planet. After colliding, the moons probably broke up into numerous particles, which survived as narrow and optically dense rings only in strictly confined zones of maximum stability. Uranus has 13 rings that have been observed so far. They are all very faint, the majority being opaque and only a few kilometers wide. The ring system consists mostly of large bodies 0.
A few rings are optically thin and are made of small dust particles which makes them difficult to observe using Earth-based telescopes. The rings of Neptune were not discovered until until the Voyager 2 space probe conducted a flyby of the planet. JPL's lucky peanuts are an unofficial tradition at big mission events. Voyager 2 made its closest approach to Saturn on Aug. The mission revealed a planet so phenomenal scientists had to go back. New research on nine craters on Saturn's largest moon Titan provides details about how weathering affects the surface — and what lies beneath.
Cassini mission data provides strong evidence that the northern hemisphere of the moon has been resurfaced with ice from its interior. Scientists have developed a new prediction of the shape of the bubble surrounding our solar system.
Uncovering Our Solar System's Shape. Planetary scientists have learned something significant: More than a quarter of the exoplanets they studied could be ocean worlds. Are Ocean Planets Common? Using data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, scientists found Titan drifting away from Saturn a hundred times faster than previously understood.
The first map showing the global geology of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, has been completed and fully reveals a dynamic world of dunes, lakes, plains, craters and other terrains. Cassini scientists have found the ingredients for amino acids condensed onto ice grains emitted by Saturn's sixth-largest moon.
Images collected during Cassini's superclose orbits in are giving scientists new insight into the complex workings of the rings. The planet also boasts a collection of exotic, and still mysterious, moons.
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