Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Study Suggests Saturn's Rings Made By Ancient Moon Death Spiral

Posted by Soulskill on from the making-a-cosmic-mess dept.

jibberjabber1 writes with news of a study published in Nature (abstract) that suggests Saturn's rings were created after a Titan-sized moon fell into the planet's atmosphere while the solar system was still young. "One of the leading theories has been that either some of Saturn's many moons crashed into each other, or that an asteroid crashed into one of them — leaving debris that formed the rings. The trouble has been that Saturn's moons are half ice and half rock and the planet's seven rings are now as much as 95 per cent ice, Robin says. If the rings were formed by a moon-on-moon crash or an asteroid-on-moon crash, there would be more rock in the rings. Something had to have stripped away the outer ice of a moon, she says. Her theory starts billions of years ago when the planet's moons were forming. A large disk of hydrogen gas circled Saturn and that helped both create and destroy moons. Large inner moons probably made regular plunges into the planet, jostled by the disk of gas. These death spirals each took about 10,000 years and the key to understanding the rings' origins is what happened to them during that time. According to Robin's computer model, Saturn stripped the ice away from a huge moon while it was far enough from the planet that the ice would be trapped in a ring. The original rings were 10 to 100 times larger than they are now, but over time the ice in the outer rings has coalesced into some of Saturn's tiny inner moons, Robin says." In other astronomy news, the Geminid meteor shower is due to reach its peak tonight.

34 comments

  1. We can fix that. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A little Scrubbing Bubbles will clean those rings right off.

    1. Re:We can fix that. by clone52431 · · Score: 0

      I honestly can’t figure out whether this was an actual attempt to advertise that website or just somebody trying to be funny. It’s more than a little unsettling...

      --
      Distributed Denial of APK: It takes 15 seconds to reply to him anonymously, but wastes tons of his time if we all do it.
    2. Re:We can fix that. by TheL0ser · · Score: 4, Funny

      Perhaps he should be tested?

    3. Re:We can fix that. by Fluffeh · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Perhaps he should be tested?

      Ahhh, I love links like that about /. I honestly find it amazing how photographic the average memory here seems to be. It's like anyone can drop a comment/topic and a bunch of links to humor just appear - yet they are for the most part very spot on.

      Kudos to you sir!

      --
      Moved to http://soylentnews.org/. You are invited to join us too!
    4. Re:We can fix that. by skine · · Score: 4, Funny

      I think that this is more applicable, in this instance.

  2. Saturnalia by taucross · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just in time for Saturnalia! The Titan-sized moon didn't fall into Saturn's atmosphere - it was swallowed.

    --
    "In the absence of the ability to establish the attribute of truth they tried to establish the noble attributes."
    1. Re:Saturnalia by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 2

      Just in time for Saturnalia! The Titan-sized moon didn't fall into Saturn's atmosphere - it was swallowed.

      Swallowed? Saturnalia?

      I'm not touching this one.

      --
      My blog
    2. Re:Saturnalia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oooooh, some hot moon-on-moon action... mmmm...

  3. Goth band. by Sean_Inconsequential · · Score: 2

    My new goth band, Moon Death Spiral. Who wants to be in it with me? We can sing goth songs about astronomy, physics and math.

    1. Re:Goth band. by the_hellspawn · · Score: 0

      I'm so Dave for this.

      --
      "The laws of science be a harsh mistress." --Bender
  4. 2001 by skywatcher2501 · · Score: 1

    I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't tell you about the true origins of Saturn's rings.

  5. Check out the other great theories by SnarfQuest · · Score: 1

    Pull out your copy of Immanuel Velikovsky's books, and you'll know exactly how it came to be.

    --
    Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
  6. Earth space junk by vikstar · · Score: 1

    I wonder if Earth's space junk will, in time, move to form rings around earth.

    --
    The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim.
    1. Re:Earth space junk by mcgrew · · Score: 2

      I doubt it, but at one time the earth did have a ring, acording to present theory.

      A Mars-sized body smashed into the earth, and the molten material splashed into orbit. The ring(s) eventually came together to form the moon.

      It seems to me that this is more likely what happened to Saturn than having a one of its moons swallowed. Another body not in Saturn's orbit could be travelling a lot faster than one in orbit. Saturn's pretty big, seems its gravity coould prevent a moon from splashing very far.

      Anyone care to do the math and tell me if I'm anywhere near reight?

      --
      Free Martian Whores!
  7. Moon-on-Moon Action by Mister+Kay · · Score: 1

    Someone's fetish is fulfilled by this story. Am I the only one bothered by that?

  8. That was no moon by HangingChad · · Score: 1

    Now we finally know what happened to the Death Star.

    --
    That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
    1. Re:That was no moon by Sulphur · · Score: 1

      That's no Death Star, that's Bill Gates wallet.

    2. Re:That was no moon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Obi-Wan: That's no longer a moon.

      I haven't even seen the movie the original quote came from. I just decided to make a silly parody using comedic skill little greater than that of an automaton. Please mod me Funny.

    3. Re:That was no moon by jefe7777 · · Score: 1

      That's no moon.

      That's Ron Jeremy.

    4. Re:That was no moon by The+Grim+Reefer2 · · Score: 1

      That's no moon.

      Not anymore.

  9. Dupe by CheerfulMacFanboy · · Score: 4, Informative
    http://science.slashdot.org/story/10/10/07/1424218/Saturns-Rings-Formed-From-Large-Moon-Destruction

    "Robin Canup from the Southwest Research Institute has uncovered evidence that the rings came from a large, Titan-sized moon that was destroyed as it spiraled into a young Saturn." Same theory, same author. Just that the Nature article is out now, instead of just a presentation.

    --
    Fandroids hate facts.
  10. Death Moon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It was the size of a small moon, and it almost was actually called the Death Moon...

  11. It's obvious what happened to the ice! by PatPending · · Score: 1

    It melted due to global warming.

    --
    What one fool can do, another can. (Ancient Simian Proverb)
  12. That's ridiculous! by sconeu · · Score: 1

    Everyone knows that Saturn's rings were created 3 million years ago, when aliens destroyed a moon to build the Star Gate on Iapetus!

    --
    General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    1. Re:That's ridiculous! by Lanteran · · Score: 1

      Pfft, be realistic. The first stargate in our solar system was put here ~50 Million years ago by the ancients.

      --
      "People don't want to learn linux" hasn't been a valid excuse since '03.
  13. I am disappointed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why is this not tagged Anti-Spiral?

  14. Mine Saturn's rings by garyisabusyguy · · Score: 1

    http://inphobe.blogspot.com/2009/07/mining-saturns-rings.html

    Great source of natural resources, all ground up and separated by density, but we have to stake our claim before some aliens use it all up

    --
    Wherever You Go, There You Are
  15. NASA MSFC - Live Metor Shower Cam by VortexCortex · · Score: 1

    Watch the Geminid Meteor Shower live without even leaving the basement!
    11:00pm to 5:00am (EST)
    http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-msfc

  16. Appreciate your sharing...... by Jon+Niham · · Score: 0

    Appreciate your sharing, I always enjoy reading quality articles by an author who is obviously knowledgeable on their chosen subject. I’ll be following this thread with great interest. Keep up the good work, till next time great post.Really looking forward to read more. Keep writing. Herbs

  17. Ha! Ismell conspiracy! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ok, can't resist this oldie - everyone knows the rings of Saturn are made of lost airline luggage!

  18. disks in space by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A large disk of hydrogen gas circled Saturn and that helped both create and destroy moons. Large inner moons probably made regular plunges into the planet, jostled by the disk of gas.

    Being that long ago, I bet it was a 5¼ incher.

  19. Could be worse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Eh, could've been worse. A large Titan-sized object could have fallen into Uranus.