Ring Around The Planets: What Are Planetary Rings Made Of? Why Are They There?

As every amateur astronomer knows, even the tiniest telescope can magnify Saturn's rings. However, it is not the only planet with such a trait. NASA said Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune all share similar properties.

Have you ever thought about why and how these rings are made? Experts have discussed everything you need to know about planet rings below. So read on!

Rings Around Planets Made of Different Things

Space.com said that there are hundreds of billions of tiny particles circling close to their planet form these rings. However, the composition of these particles varies from planet to planet. Rings from the same ring system can be manufactured of various materials.

Water ice makes up the majority of Saturn's ring particles. The ring system of Jupiter is made up of small dust particles, not water ice particles like Saturn's. Instead, the particles are expected to be rocky in nature, like asteroids and rocky moons in composition.

Although it is unknown what Uranus' rings are formed of, they are black and non-reflective. They aren't composed of water ice, based on this. Instead, they might be carbon-based dust particles or dust containing carbon, such as charcoal.

The rings of Neptune are much darker than Uranus', and their density indicates that they are formed of even finer particles. This is almost certainly carbon or a carbon source, such as methane ice.

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Difference Between Planet Rings

According to The Conversation, the rings that surround the planets differ differently. Yet, they all have some traits.

To begin with, they are all far wider. Saturn's rings, for example, are around 280,000 kilometers wide yet just 200 meters thick (extending away from the planet). That's the equivalent of having a 14-kilometer-wide pancake for breakfast.

Another feature that all ring systems have in common is that they are all made up of little ice and rock particles. The tiniest of these particles are the size of dust grains, while the largest have a diameter of around 20 meters - almost the same as a school hall. All of the rings that round the planets have gaps in them, some of which are many kilometers wide, and no one could figure out why at first.

The major distinction between Saturn's rings and those of other gas giant planets is that the particles that make up Saturn's rings are excellent at reflecting sunlight back to Earth. That makes they seem extraordinarily brilliant, which is why we can view the rings with a regular telescope from Earth. Saturn's rings are also larger and broader due to the high amount of particles trapped inside them; this is another reason they are easier to discern than the rings of other gas giant planets.

The elements darkened by the sun make up the particles that make up Uranus and Neptune's rings. These black granules resemble chunks of coal or charcoal that would be used to light a fire.

Here's How These Rings Started to Surround The Planet

The first theory, per Universe Today, said the rings originated simultaneously with the planet. Some of the gas and dust particles that make up planets were too far away from the planet's center to be squished together by gravity. They stayed behind to put together the ring system.

Meanwhile, the second idea (via Planets for Kids) claims that the rings were formed when two of the planet's moons were thrown off course in their orbits and collided (an orbit is the circular path that the moon travels on around the planet). The debris that was left behind in this massive collision could not be reassembled to form a new moon. Instead, it evolved into the modern-day ring systems.