The rings of Saturn are the most extensive planetary ring system of any planet in the Solar System. They consist of countless small particles, ranging from μm to m in size, that orbit about Saturn. The ring particles are made almost entirely of water ice, with a trace component of rocky material. There is still no consensus as to their mechanism of formation; some features of the rings suggest a relatively recent origin, but theoretical models indicate they are likely to have formed early in the Solar System's history.
Although reflection from the rings increases Saturn's brightness, they are not visible from Earth with unaided vision. In 1610, the year after Galileo Galilei turned a telescope to the sky, he became the first person to observe Saturn's rings, though he could not see them well enough to discern their true nature. In 1655, Christiaan Huygens was the first person to describe them as a disk surrounding Saturn. Although many people think of Saturn's rings as being made up of a series of tiny ringlets (a concept that goes back to Laplace), true gaps are few. It is more correct to think of the rings as an annular disk with concentric local maxima and minimain density and brightness. On the scale of the clumps within the rings there is much empty space.
The rings have numerous gaps where particle density drops sharply: two opened by known moons embedded within them, and many others at locations of known destabilizing orbital resonances with Saturn's moons. Other gaps remain unexplained. Stabilizing resonances, on the other hand, are responsible for the longevity of several rings, such as the Titan Ringlet and the G Ring.
| Name(1) |
Distance from Saturn's
center (km)(2) |
Width (km)(2) |
Named after |
| D Ring |
66,900 – 74,510 |
7,500 |
|
| C Ring |
74,658 – 92,000 |
17,500 |
|
| B Ring |
92,000 – 117,580 |
25,500 |
|
| Cassini Division |
117,580 – 122,170 |
4,700 |
Giovanni Cassini |
| A Ring |
122,170 – 136,775 |
14,600 |
|
| Roche Division |
136,775 – 139,380 |
2,600 |
Édouard Roche |
| F Ring |
140,180 (3) |
30 – 500 |
|
| Janus/Epimetheus Ring(4) |
149,000 – 154,000 |
5,000 |
Janus and Epimetheus |
| G Ring |
166,000 – 175,000 |
9,000 |
|
| Methone Ring Arc(4) |
194,230 |
? |
Methone |
| Anthe Ring Arc(4) |
197,665 |
? |
Anthe |
| Pallene Ring(4) |
211,000 – 213,500 |
2,500 |
Pallene |
| E Ring |
180,000 – 480,000 |
300,000 |
|
| Phoebe Ring |
~4,000,000 – >13,000,000 |
|
Phoebe |
- Galileo Galilei – the first person to observe Saturn's rings, in 1610
- Christiaan Huygens – the first person to propose that there was a ring surrounding Saturn, in 1655
- Giovanni Cassini – discovered the separation between the A and B rings (the Cassini Division), in 1675
- Édouard Roche – French astronomer who described how a satellite that comes within the Roche limit of Saturn could break up and form the rings
