Saturn’s rings may have formed from a shattered moon
Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2022 3:02 am
https://www.earth.com/news/saturns-ring ... ered-moon/
The rings of Saturn provide evidence that the planet is spinning at a tilt
Saturn’s rings may have formed from a shattered moon
The rings of Saturn provide evidence that the planet is spinning at a tilt. Astronomers have long suspected that this tilt comes from gravitational interactions with Neptune, as Saturn’s tilt spins at nearly the same rate as the orbit of Neptune.
But now, a team of researchers at MIT has found that Saturn has escaped Neptune’s pull. The experts propose that Saturn, which currently has 83 moons, once had at least one more named Chrysalis. The research suggests that Chrysalis orbited Saturn for several billion years, pulling and tugging on the planet in a way that kept its tilt in resonance with Neptune.
However, the team estimates that around 160 million years ago, Chrysalis became unstable and pulled the satellite apart. The loss of the moon was enough to remove Saturn from Neptune’s grasp and leave it with the present-day tilt.
The rings of Saturn provide evidence that the planet is spinning at a tilt
Saturn’s rings may have formed from a shattered moon
The rings of Saturn provide evidence that the planet is spinning at a tilt. Astronomers have long suspected that this tilt comes from gravitational interactions with Neptune, as Saturn’s tilt spins at nearly the same rate as the orbit of Neptune.
But now, a team of researchers at MIT has found that Saturn has escaped Neptune’s pull. The experts propose that Saturn, which currently has 83 moons, once had at least one more named Chrysalis. The research suggests that Chrysalis orbited Saturn for several billion years, pulling and tugging on the planet in a way that kept its tilt in resonance with Neptune.
However, the team estimates that around 160 million years ago, Chrysalis became unstable and pulled the satellite apart. The loss of the moon was enough to remove Saturn from Neptune’s grasp and leave it with the present-day tilt.