Saturn is one of the largest and most mysterious planets in the solar system. The rings of Saturn hide many secrets. For two hundred and fifty years, mankind has been trying to answer the question of why they are flat and thin. When this question was answered, dozens of new ones appeared. And each new answer raises more and more questions that continue to multiply as the solar system is explored.
Opening rings
Galileo was the first to see the rings of Saturn through a telescope in 1610. But he took this as an anomaly of the planet. He encrypted his discovery with a Latin anagram, which in translation sounds like: "I observed the triple highest planet." In 1656, Huygens first saw a ring on Saturn. He wrote that Saturn is surrounded by a thin flat ring, nowhere in contact with the planet and inclined to the plane of the ecliptic. Giovanni Cassini in 1675 determined that this was not one continuous ring. He saw two rings, which are separated by space. This space was later called the division (or gap) of Cassini.
Research 18-19centuries
Further studies of Saturn did not bring scientists closer to unraveling the structure of the rings and the reasons for their occurrence. Mysteries have just been added. For a long time it was assumed that the planet has two solid and thin rings. Laplace, having performed calculations taking into account the influence of the gravitational field, in 1787 concluded that there are many thousands or millions of rings. He believed that the rings were solid and resembled gymnastic hoops.
French scientist E. Roche determined the minimum distance at which objects can be under the influence of Saturn's gravitational field. He determined that it was 2.44 radii. (Later it was called the Roche limit). Closer than this distance, any solid or liquid satellites will be destroyed by the gravitational field. The rings of Saturn are located within this radius. The outer size of the rings is 2.3 radii of the planet. If they were solid or liquid, the gravitational field would tear them apart.
James Clerk Maxwell took part in the study of the physical structure of the rings. His findings suggest that Saturn's rings may be composed of small particles. Our compatriot Sofia Kovalevskaya became interested in this problem. She proved that rings can be neither solid nor liquid. Studying Doppler shifts, scientists D. Keeler and W. Campbell found out that particles move in orbits that do not contradict the laws of celestial mechanics.
Research in the 20th century
In the fifties of the 20th century, using spectral analysis, it was found that the rings of Saturn contain a lot offrozen water. It was very important. Finally managed to figure out what the rings of Saturn are made of. In addition to ice, methane, sulfur compounds, hydrogen, ammonia, and iron compounds were found in the rings. Exceptional information has been obtained from space probes. Pioneer (1979) and two Voyagers (1980 and 1981) flew past Saturn. In 1997, the Cassini-Huygens mission began. The probe transmitted unique information that is yet to be analyzed. The Huygens probe landed on Saturn's largest moon Titan, and people on Earth heard the sounds of another world, saw mountains and plains.
Secrets of the Rings
Today, a lot of information has been collected about the rings of Saturn. However, a definitive, consistent model still does not exist. There are questions waiting to be answered. Rings have been discovered around Uranus and Neptune. Why is such a formation only outside the asteroid belt and not on any of the terrestrial planets? The physical processes that led to the formation of the rings are unclear. How did the compression occur and why did hundreds of individual structures form? How do the particles of the rings do not stick together and do not mix? The rings have the properties of a magnetic mirror. Electromagnetic waves of circular polarization are reflected from them. A magnetic field is pushed out of ring A, a strong reflection of radio waves is noticed. There are spokes in Ring B waiting to be explained. The rings have a low brightness, which does not correspond to the calculated one. Near the rings of Saturn, an atmosphere was discovered, the origin of which is not clear. seenthe so-called density waves and many more phenomena that are waiting to be explained.
Hypotheses
In 1986, a hypothesis was put forward about the superconductivity of the ice that makes up the rings of Saturn. Ice in general is a complex formation and, depending on the conditions of its formation, may have different properties. The presence of superconductivity makes it possible to create a consistent physical model of the rings of Saturn, which explains many anomalies.
How many rings does Saturn have?
There is no definitive answer to this question either. Today there are 13 main rings. They are called by the letters of the Latin alphabet: A, B, C, D, etc. The spaces between the rings are called divisions or slots. There are divisions of Cassini, gaps of Huygens, Kuiper, Maxwell, etc. The diameter of Saturn's rings varies from 146 thousand km to 273 thousand km. In 2009, the ring of Phoebus was discovered, the existence of the ring of Rhea is assumed. Their diameters have not yet been precisely determined.
Observation from Earth
Saturn's rings are not always visible from Earth. This is due to the fact that Saturn's equator is strongly inclined to the plane of the orbit around the Sun, and the rings lie in the plane of the equator. A year on Saturn lasts 29.5 Earth years, and during the period when the equinox on Saturn, its rings disappear for the earthly observer. Then for about 7 years they are visible on one side. During the solstice on Saturn, they reach their maximum visibility, and then gradually decrease, until they are completely invisible.
In recentFor years, planetary astrophysics has been rapidly developing. Scientists got the opportunity to use the data of interplanetary probes, as they say, to practically touch space objects. In the coming years, the rings of Saturn should share their secrets with humanity.
