Questions tagged [planetary-ring]
Questions about rings of debris that encircle the equatorial regions of some planets.
51
questions
1
vote
0answers
29 views
How quickly can a ring system be made?
I've seen elsewhere that if a terrestrial planet had a ring system, it would be very difficult (if not impossible) for life to evolve due to the shadow the rings would cast on the temperate zone in ...
2
votes
0answers
32 views
How many moons do we know are shepherds?
Shepherd moons are natural satellites near the edge of a planetary ring that have an influence on the shape and size of the ring due to their gravity. So it is possible for a satellite to be near the ...
1
vote
1answer
27 views
Can expansion of space cause the motion of galaxies, does expansion of space do effect motion of our sun around center and earth around Sun?
I'm just wondering that expansion is anyway related to in effecting motion of a star under the galaxies ? Planets are currently revolving around sun in helix motion, if galaxies has motion as well ...
1
vote
4answers
139 views
Is this render of a ringed planet's shadow accurate?
I've noticed that when it's the equinox on this planet I'm making, the sun seems to cast a double shadow on the planet. How come the planet's ring seems to make two shadows with a space in between, ...
5
votes
0answers
118 views
Could a star have a Saturn-like ring?
Saturn's rings will never clump together, because they are within the Roche limit. Which makes me wonder if a star could have rings that are kept from clumping together due to tidal forces. Have any ...
4
votes
2answers
119 views
What is the difference between a moon and a random chunk in the rings
Jupiter has 79 (known) moons, Saturn 82, Uranus 27 and Neptune 14 (numbers come from Wikipedia). These planets also all have rings. The rings are made up of chunks of rock and ice. There also are ...
4
votes
1answer
129 views
How do a planet's moons and a planet's rings interact?
I am making a video game which features a planet and its moon. And I thought I would add rings too.
But that got me wondering... how do a planet's moon and a planet's ring influence each other?
Does ...
3
votes
1answer
68 views
What kind of effects can maintain Uranus' rings' eccentricities?
The recent paper Thermal Emission from the Uranian Ring System has been in the news recently. The introduction mentions:
The ε ring, the brightest and most massive of the narrow rings, was shown to ...
3
votes
0answers
77 views
What is the organic material in Saturn's rings?
The phys.org articleSurprising chemical complexity of Saturn's rings changing planet's upper atmosphere about the chemical complexity of Saturn's rings, quotes a member of the INMS (Thomas Cravens) as ...
3
votes
1answer
431 views
Why are saturn rings so thin?
I wonder why saturn rings are so thin ? Rings A, B and C are approximately just 10 meters thick which is extremely thin compared to the size of Saturn. What are the explanations for that ?
Thanks a ...
9
votes
1answer
2k views
Which Saturn satellite passes closest to Saturn's rings and at what distance?
I was using Stellarium to watch Saturn from its moon Pan and I saw the rings were very close to this moon. Now Saturn's rings extend for a large distance so several moons see them from close. I was ...
7
votes
4answers
4k views
Hypothetically, would we be able to see the moon from Saturn's North Pole?
Hypothetically speaking, if Saturn had a solid surface that we could stand on, would we be able to see our Moon from the North Pole of Saturn? Would the rings of Saturn obstruct the view?
1
vote
1answer
91 views
What is a debris field called before it becomes a planetary ring?
As a body of a suitable size and mass moves within the Roche limit of a planet, it will disintegrate. This will form a debris field that will eventually form a planetary ring. Is there a name given to ...
1
vote
0answers
208 views
If Earth had rings, how long would it take for the rings to loose orbit? [closed]
If Earth had rings, how long would it take for the rings to loose orbit? One of the answers in this question https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/281828/if-earth-had-rings said we did at one ...
1
vote
1answer
80 views
Can CME destroy planetary rings?
Is Corona Mass Ejection able to reach the outer planets such as Jupiter and Saturn? If so can it blows away the icy rings or the distance is simply beyond the reach of maybe like Earth it is protected ...
6
votes
1answer
793 views
Can an asteroid have rings?
I know an asteroid can have moons, but how about rings? Does it also get affected by the Roche limit?
The asteroid Florence has two moons.
9
votes
2answers
3k views
Why Only Saturn Has Visible Rings
It may be surprising to know that all four giants in our solar system have rings orbiting around them. Yet only Saturn has a system of rings visible to the naked eye. Why is that? What's so ...
3
votes
1answer
214 views
Are the radial spokes in Saturn's rings reliably visible via ground-based telescopes
In the mid 1970's, Franklin and O'Meara saw persistent "radial spoke-like features" in the rings of Saturn, that should not have existed due to the differential rotation of the rings. A publication ...
5
votes
1answer
204 views
What stabilizes rings or accretion disks?
We think, more or less, that our Moon was formed from an accretion disk caused by a Mars-sized impactor. Cool.
Tidal forces can break apart a moon, causing rings.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust: the ...
2
votes
2answers
277 views
How are J1407b's rings possible?
If planetary rings are maintained by staying within the Roche limit, how is it that J1407b's rings extend so far? Surely the gravity and tidal forces should be low enough to allow a moon to form.
6
votes
1answer
442 views
Can Earth have a ring?
Why doesn't the earth have a ring?
If solid material such as dust and moonlets, and common components of satellite systems are brought nearer to the Earth, then what will happen? Will it take the ...
9
votes
1answer
799 views
Which star did Uranus occult in 1977 when the planet's rings were discovered?
In 1977, Uranus occulted a star, and the starlight flickered 40 minutes before and after the actual occultation, revealing Uranus' rings.This is common knowledge to astronomers, but what I can't find ...
2
votes
1answer
1k views
Can a planet have more that one ring? [duplicate]
Here is a good example picture of what I mean:
If not, why is this so? I've heard often that in the creation of a planet more the rings have formed, they are most likely just all over the place ...
3
votes
1answer
290 views
Is there, in fact, any close-up photography of Saturn's rings, showing individual pebbles/rocks?
After reading this excellent but difficult answer, https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/a/18407/13071
I've been thinking how difficult it is to get a sense of the distance between and the size of ...
7
votes
2answers
2k views
Size of Saturn's ring material
How big are the chunks of rock ice that make up Saturn's rings? Are there many objects larger than pebble size?
5
votes
2answers
438 views
Why are some universal entities round and others are flat?
I've been wondering for a while now why some objects in the universe (such as stars, planets, etc.) are round, while others are flat (galaxies, planetary rings and protoplanetary disks).
I know these ...
3
votes
2answers
175 views
Difference between “planetary ring” and “circumstellar disk”?
Related: Do/Can Ringed Stars Exist?
Is there any particular difference, in behavior or properties, between a planetary ring system and a circumstellar disk? Or is the only real difference a matter of ...
7
votes
2answers
1k views
Do/Can Ringed Stars Exist?
The other night, while playing Elite: Dangerous, I came across a rather strange celestial body - one I never imagined possible.
It was a Brown Dwarf star with a very large ring.
Is something like ...
8
votes
2answers
734 views
Can there be elliptical rings around a planet?
The rings of Saturn and Jupiter are circular. Orbits can be elliptical, so can rings be elliptical?
2
votes
1answer
178 views
Do planetary rings always follow rotational axis?
In solar system,most ring systems seem almost lies exactly on the equator of planet, is it possible that the plane of a ring system is not lie on the equator of the planet?
7
votes
2answers
3k views
Could a cross-ringed planet exist?
My title doesn't do my question justice in explaining, but the kind of satellite system I'm thinking of is two rings on two separate axis, much like (if you've seen it) the film 'Treasure Planet' ...
2
votes
1answer
382 views
Mass limit of planetary ring
Is there a limit to how massive a planet's ring can be?
If there is, how does it depend on the mass of the planet, presence/absence of moons, distance to the star or other parameters?
9
votes
2answers
977 views
How unusual is the solar system?
In Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, the main characters are looking for the long-lost Earth. There are two major features of the solar system that seem to make it unusual among the millions of ...
12
votes
2answers
3k views
Can a star have a ring system?
I often hear about planetary ring systems, and even some moons might have them, but how about stars? Can a star also have rings?
9
votes
2answers
540 views
Why does Saturn have both moons and rings?
From my understanding, a ring can form around a planet when a moon gets too close to its Roche limit, and gets ripped appart by the planet's gravity pull. That makes sense to me, but I don't ...
5
votes
1answer
218 views
Rings around a smaller, close-in planet?
Is it possible for a small, close-to-star planet to have a stable ring system--icy or otherwise?
A smaller planet means the rings would have to be closer to the planet, which means the radial shear (...
8
votes
2answers
3k views
10
votes
2answers
167 views
Do magnetic fields affect planetary rings?
Planetary rings seem to generally form on the ecliptic plane because of the rotation of the planet, but I was wondering what kind of effect the magnetic field of the planet might have on the ring ...
14
votes
2answers
518 views
How thick can planetary rings be?
This arose from a comment on Worldbuilding.
We have data from four planets in the Solar System with rings, which doesn't make for a very good sample size. Observations of exoplanets could change that,...
2
votes
0answers
34 views
Do the planetary ring lasts? [duplicate]
Almost all gas giants in our solar system are observed to have a planetary ring comprises of ice, dust and rocks. My question is do these rings obediently sticks around their foster parent until our ...
7
votes
1answer
383 views
Wouldn't the rings of Saturn experience tidal effect?
The "Lord of the Rings" has more than 60 moons, some of which are larger than Mercury. My question is, wouldn't the ring, which is mostly comprised of rocks, experience tidal effect whenever a moon is ...
8
votes
1answer
268 views
What's special about Saturn that it has distinctive rings?
This may overlap with other questions, but I'm asking what is unique about Saturn in location, properties, etc that is has far more pronounced rings? It's between Jupiter and Uranus and Neptune in ...
2
votes
1answer
92 views
Recent origin of Saturn's rings
Saturn was formed around billion years ago along with Jupiter. After which it had enough time to form moon which can break into rings.
Then why is it said that Saturn's ring are of recent origin - ...
21
votes
2answers
2k views
How long do planetary rings last?
I'm surprised that this question hasn't been asked before (here or on Physics), to the best of my knowledge. It's one that I might have asked when I was a bit younger, and one that I think other ...
4
votes
1answer
797 views
Why do the rings around the Gas Giants get their 'ring' shape?
In our Solar System, all the gas giants have ring systems. However, why do these rings form rings and not a cloud of debris around the planet?
2
votes
1answer
548 views
What is the connection between moons, rings, and gaps?
I was watching this video and they said that the rock probably has a moon. Is the reason they assume it has a moon is because there is a gap between the rings created by the moon's orbit around the ...
20
votes
3answers
1k views
Will Saturn's rings become a moon?
Planets form from disks of matter orbiting around a star; some moons form from disks of matter orbiting planets. If this were going to happen around Saturn, approximately how much time would it take?
10
votes
1answer
243 views
How are the newly discovered Janus/Epimetheus rings different from the other rings of Saturn?
What are the newly discovered ring systems of Saturn, and the circumstances relating to the discovery? Is there something that makes them different from the old well-known rings, like their formation?
...
14
votes
1answer
242 views
Do planetary rings have geometric bounds?
Are there any bounds on where a planetary ring can form and maintain orbit relative to the planet?
Do they have to be in a circular equatorial orbit?
Is there a min or max altitude, say with respect ...
29
votes
2answers
5k views
How dense are Saturn's rings?
I assume that the A ring is the densest, but I might be wrong. Nevertheless, I failed to find any explicit information over the net about the minimum and maximum of densities for the different rings. ...
