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NEW RESEARCH FROM Nasa has confirmed that Saturn is losing its rings at the “worst-case scenario” rate.
The research shows that the planet is losing rings at the maximum rate estimated from Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft observations made decades ago.
The rings are being pulled into Saturn by gravity as a dusty rain of ice particles under the influence of Saturn’s magnetic field.
James O’Donoghue – from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, USA – said that the rate of the “ring drain” takes enough water products to fill an Olympic sized swimming pool in half and hour.
“From this alone, the entire ring system will be gone in 300 million years, but add to this the Cassini-spacecraft measured ring-material detected falling into Saturn’s equator, and the rings have less than 100 million years to live,” he said.
This is relatively short, compared to Saturn’s age of over 4 billion years.
O’Donoghue is the lead author of a study on Saturn’s rings released yesterday.
The research points to the fact that the rings were acquired by the planet later in life, rather than it being formed with them.
“We are lucky to be around to see Saturn’s ring system, which appears to be in the middle of its lifetime,” O’Donoghue said.
However, if rings are temporary, perhaps we just missed out on seeing giant ring systems of Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune, which have only thin ringlets today.
There are a number of theories around how Saturn got its rings.
One such theory is that they formed later in life when small, icy moons in orbit around the planet collided.
I blame Leo and the rest of the government.
100 million years! In Ireland they would have gotten a suspended sentence.
@JayK: Not one person on Saturn owns their own home :-(
@JayK: thats 100 million street value
@Myles Collier: “I don’t know what street you’re buying your rings on, but it’s not the same street I buy mine on”
@thomas patrick: An olympic-size swimming pool-full of water every half an hour wasted! What are Irish Water doing about this?
I call for a ring Tax, whilst I realize that it won’t fix the problem, at least we can say we did something about it and, at the same time, make some more money to spend on extra administrative staff in the HSE
We need a ring tax folks or we’re all doomed, doomed I tells ya
Oh, and increase motor tax too, it’s probably car owners faults
@Dara O’Brien: popcorn ready for all the shills who think they can do what they like and expect no repercussions. I’ll pay my tax and do my part
It’s cuz of Global Warming guys.
@Olive McClaw: intergalactic warming!
@Julian King: Ahem interplanetary!
cue the ring loss deniers!
@John O’Brien: cue the ‘ring tax ‘ more like –!!!
@Eric Davies: let Saturn pay the ring tax, I pay the Homer tax
@Peter Brophy: Ahem, Dad, that’s the home owner tax…
@Grotmaster: DOH !
#SaturnsRingsMatter #BeleaveAllPlanets
If Saturn is 4 Billion years old and the Bible says…
“Ring Drain” thank god it’s Saturn and not that other planet.
@Sam Cairns: Neptune or Jupiter?
@Sam Cairns: Ur ??
Amother leak for Irish Water to draw up an action plan on . . .
Would a prayer to St Anthony help in any way to find the rings again?
It’s called the Rotten Ring syndrome..
I think one of my colleagues has the same dose judging by the odour emitting from the WC
Suppose this is our fault as well, give it a week and you’ll get a report from the university of gobshits telling us all the figures add up to it being our fault.
Ah, sure, it’s not the end of the world!
Pay a visit to the happy ring houses
Perhaps in 100 million years the absolutely rediculously dramatic nature of your headline will be forgotten too. The actual worst case scenario is probably a lot worse. !! #Hyperbolemuch.
Ring drain…. Is that similar to ring sting
Incoming homelessness comments …..
All this ring talk is a load of me hoop.
Is it getting divorced? Poor Saturn
I won’t be setting my alarm clock
A ringading ding
100m years ago Uranus had a massive brown ring. quite a site that would have been.
Folks I’m a bible believing Christian and believe that God is real and all the other stuff the Bible teaches. Some days it’s a stretch to keep believing and it takes faith to keep going. Some would say I’m mad for believing in what they might call the “sky fairy” and so on but then people will swallow this rubbish from NASA like its completely undeniable. Makes no sense to me, even if you think you can age a rock to 4 billion years old you can never prove it. They totally make it up and the whole world swallows it but its the god squad are the mad ones? Hmmm
By the way God had nothing to do with the free will actions of rap ists so before you comment, cut yer nails and just don’t.
@Pip: yep, in my opinion, you’re mad.
They need tougher rings. Get the lads from Mountjoy on the case.
#yesequality
I for one will be sad to see the rings go in 100 million years…
our ‘satellite rings’ gone by then so ..
I hear they are going to make a film about it. A group of heroes, lead by a small person known as Pluto, will try to put the rings back. All the while being thwarted by the villian Saturn. It’s going to be called, “Loss of the Rings”.
Join the “Friends of Saturn” organisation, donate and mount a campaign @ Friends of saturn.ie Chairman Gusheen O’ Bollicawn.
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