What’s Happening to Saturn’s Rings?
Bard AI says not to worry.
Lately, I have seen scary news headlines about one of the big players in Earth’s solar system.
Rings of Saturn Vanish
Scientists Warn: Saturn Loses Rings
Saturn’s Rings Go Missing
You know me. I immediately thought,
Aliens!
That alien dude in the lower left corner just wanted to ask directions to…you guessed it…Saturn.
Now, why would aliens want to steal Saturn’s rings?
What are the rings made of, anyway? To my unscientific mind, they look like a spinning assortment of space rocks.
The moon rocks brought back by the Apollo astronauts were extremely popular. The U.S. gifted them to museums worldwide.
The aliens must have figured out a good use for Saturn’s rocks. Food…fuel… paperweights…
How would the aliens capture the rocks?
That’s easy. A space vacuum cleaner.
I ran my theory by Bard AI.
Bard said:
Nooooo, Carrie.
Saturn’s rings won’t be disappearing forever, but they will temporarily become very difficult to see from Earth in 2025. This is because of Saturn’s axial tilt, which is similar to Earth’s. Every 29.5 years, Saturn’s rings are aligned edge-on to Earth, making them almost invisible. This last happened in 2009, and the next time it will happen is in 2025.
Saturn’s rings are made up of billions of tiny particles of ice and rock, ranging in size from dust grains to small boulders. These particles are orbiting Saturn in a flat disk, and they are all tilted at the same angle as the planet’s equator. This means that when Saturn’s rings are edge-on to Earth, we are only seeing them from a very narrow angle, and they are much less illuminated by the sun. As a result, they are much fainter and harder to see.
The next time Saturn’s rings are edge-on to Earth will be in 2025. This will happen between March and September of that year. During this time, the rings will be so faint that they will only be visible through a telescope, and even then they will be very difficult to make out.
So, while Saturn’s rings won’t be disappearing forever, they will be temporarily out of sight for Earth-based observers in 2025. This is a rare and fascinating event, and it is a great opportunity to learn more about Saturn and its incredible rings.
I’m putting March 2025 on my calendar, in case the aliens show up looking for our moon rocks. 😂
Thanks for reading, clapping, and commenting!