Saturn's rings are far older than previously thought, researchers believe.
Because the rings appear so clean and bright, some scientists had argued the they were much younger than Saturn, possible as little as 100 million years.
But closer examination shows the rings are rougher than they look and could have been formed billions of years ago.
As Saturn's rings appear so clean and bright, scientists believed till now that they were much younger than the planet. Recent findings now show the mass is bigger than they thought, proving they could be much older
The findings will be presented at the European Planetary Science Congress in Germany.
'Because they are clumpy, the previous estimates of the mass of the rings are incorrect,' Larry Esposito of the University of Colorado said.
'With more mass they can be older and still appear bright.'
The rings encircling Saturn are one of the most dramatic features of the solar system. The other gaseous planets in the solar system - Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune - also are encircled by rings, but they are not as spectacular.
There is scientific debate over the origins of Saturn's rings. One idea is that the material that makes up the rings is debris from collisions involving moons orbiting the giant planet.
Another theory holds that the rings were formed at the same time as Saturn and from some of the same material that created the second-largest planet in the solar system.
Using a computer model and information from the U.S.-European Cassini spacecraft mission, Esposito and his team simulated colliding particles in Saturn's rings and their erosion by meteorites.
'Both Cassini observations and theoretical calculations can allow the rings of Saturn to be billions of years old,' Esposito said in a statement
Source: Daily mail UK., September 24, 2008
Saturn's rings 'are billions of years older than once thought' 
Re: Saturn's rings 'are billions of years older than once thought' 
Linear Mode
