The rings of Saturn formed much later than the planet itself. To such conclusion the international group of researchers, after studying the data obtained by the Cassini spacecraft. Age of the rings, scientists estimated 10-100 million years, whereas the gas giant appeared about 4.5 billion years ago. According to astronomers, encircling the planet rings could be in contact in the gravitational field of a large icy comet, which disintegrated into many small parts.

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Age rings around Saturn, turned out to be many times less than the age of the planet itself. To such conclusion the international group of researchers examined data obtained by the spacecraft Cassini. In addition, the researchers were able to determine the mass of these formations.

“Mass of the rings is about 40% of the mass of a moon of Saturn — Mimas, which is about 2 million times smaller than our moon. In addition, we found that the ring appeared relatively recently — less than 100 million years ago or maybe even 10 million years ago,” said the researchers.

Scientists stressed that any planetary ring composed of ice, are quite bright, but over time, they “pollute” the interplanetary debris and they fade. From this the researchers concluded that the glistening rings of Saturn on a cosmic scale, quite young.

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The conclusions of the astronomers allow you to put an end to decades of dispute on the age of the rings of the gas giant. Thus, some scientists believed that they formed out of icy and rocky debris caught in orbit of the planet after the formation of the Solar system, around the same time Saturn is about 4.5 billion years ago. Other researchers have suggested that the rings came much later. According to this theory, a large comet or object from the Kuiper belt could get into the gravitational field of Saturn, which was torn into many pieces. From the resulting rubble, according to them, and formed the ring system. New data confirm the justice of the second hypothesis.

In the study, researchers also made several other discoveries. So, they were able to calculate the mass of the rocky core of Saturn, which was equal to 15 to 18 Earth masses. In addition, the astronomers were able to learn the wind currents in the atmosphere of a gas giant. So, the surface of the cloud at the equator of Saturn revolves around the planet in 10 hours 33 minutes by 4% faster than the clouds of the lower atmosphere.

Recall that automatic interplanetary station Cassini, exploring Saturn since 2004, ended its nearly 20-year journey in September 2017, having burned in the upper atmosphere of Saturn. However, before the end of the mission, the unit had 22 times to pass through the space between the rings and the gas giant.