Saturn’s rings will soon disappear. The news seems crazy. But it’s not that much. Ultimately, the phenomenon occurs about every 15 years. Explanations.
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The first to observe them was Galileo (1564-1642). It was at the very beginning of the 17th century. The rings of Saturn. Majestic. And quite mysterious at the time. Since then, astronomers have proposed various scenarios for their training. Of comets, asteroids or even satellites that ventured into the wrong place and were torn apart by their gravitational pull or collided with each other. They could also have emerged relatively recently. About 400 million years ago. And today they cover a distance of between 70,000 and 140,000 kilometers.
Towards the end of Saturn’s rings?
But researchers warn that we should expect them to disappear. In millions of years? By progressively disintegrating into a shower of ice pieces that would fall into the gas planet’s atmosphere? NO. In about 18 months. Sometime in 2025!
It is the tilt of the giant planet in its orbit around our sun that will actually change. Its rings adapt perfectly to our field of vision. But Saturn’s rings are thin. Relatively thinner than a sheet of paper. So trying to spot them is like trying to see a piece of paper from one end of a football field to the other.
A position in the sky that makes Saturn’s rings disappear
Exactly on March 23, 2025, Saturn’s inclination angle will decrease to zero. This happens approximately every 15 years. However, it is possible that the configuration is then displayed several times in the immediate vicinity. This will happen next time, on October 15, 2038, then on April 1, 2039, and again on July 9, 2039. Meanwhile, Saturn and its rings will appear at their greatest tilt in 2032.