Saturn would cease to be Saturn without its rings. Or wouldn’t it stop?

The age of the rings of Saturn

Currently, scientists believe that the rings of Saturn, like the rings of Jupiter and Uranus, in their present form, exist no more than 100 million years. Thus, at least part of their planetary history - the giants were deprived of rings.

The disappearance of the rings of Saturn

The rings of Saturn could have formed earlier, and then disappear. But this is a hypothesis. Perhaps we will never know. But it still seems likely that the rings are not eternal. Gravity and gases will ultimately destroy them.

This is how it will happen. The gas density of the planet’s atmosphere gradually decreases with height, passing into the vacuum of outer space.

But even in the ring region, traces of atmospheric gases can be found. This is the problem. Small particles of the ring collide with gas molecules.

Between the parts of the ring and atmospheric gases, friction forces arise, which slows down the movement of the elements of the rings. As soon as the speed of movement of the particles of the rings decreases, they begin to move towards the planet.

The forces of gravity also attract parts of the rings to the planet. Gradually, the forces of gravity and friction will force all or most of the elements of the rings to fall onto the planet. It is for this reason that, for example, artificial satellites fall to the Earth.