Saturn’s rings disappearing!

Source– This post “Saturn’s rings disappearing!” is based on the article “Will Saturn’s rings really ‘disappear’ by 2025? An astronomer explains” published in “The Hindu” on 14th November 2023.

Why in the News?

Saturn’s rings will not disappear permanently by 2025. Although they will become almost invisible from Earth during that time, it is a regular occurrence due to the thinness of the rings.

What are Saturn rings?

1. The planet’s enormous ring system, comprised of bits of ice, dust and rocks, spreads out over a huge distance – just over 280,000km from the planet.
2. The rings orbit directly above Saturn’s equator and they too are tilted to the plane of Saturn’s orbit.

Why Saturn rings will disappear?

1. Saturn’s rings will become almost invisible from Earth in 2025 due to the edge-on perspective from our viewpoint.
2. This phenomenon occurs because the rings are so thin that, when seen from a distance, they appear to vanish when viewed edge-on.
3. This happens regularly. The last time was in 2009 and the rings gradually became visible again, over the course of a few months.

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