Saturn's rings are younger than
previously thought, being born 100 million years ago when the
last dinosaurs were dying out on Earth, according to a study led
by Rome's Sapienza University and funded by the Italian Space
Agency, published in the Science journal.
The study is based on data captured by the Cassini probe in
its dive into the planet's atmosphere that ended the NASA,
European Space Agency (ESA) and ASI mission.
Saturn's rings are, therefore, much younger than their
planet, which was formed around 4.5 billion years ago.
"With these data we have found the last piece of the puzzle,"
said Luciano Iess from Sapienza's mechanical and aerospace
engineering department, who coordinated the study with Daniele
Durante and Paolo Racioppa.
The measurement of the mass of the rings is the last piece of
the puzzle which has just been found.
"We have fille din this missing square," Iess added, "with a
precise measurement, whereas in the past there were only clues".
The Cassini data, furthermore, supplied new information on
Saturn's winds, which blow at 200 metres a second and penetrate
up to 9,000 kilometres into the gaseous planet, while those on
Jupiter stop at 2,000 kilometres.
"The mass of the rings was the last part of the puzzle. A
small mass, which we measured through Cassini's tele-measurement
system, indicates a young age," said Iess.
"There were already clues that the rings were not formed
together with Saturn, but now we have a very convincing proof,
which it was possible to obtain only in the final phase of the
mission".
There has also been news on the nucleus of Saturn, which
takes up 15% of the planet, with a mass which is 15-18 times
higher than that of Earth and formed of heavy elements: an
important clue on the formation of Saturn and its moons.
The origin of the rings is still only a hypothesis. One of
the most likely indicates the impact of a comet, which may have
disintegrated one of saturn's moons.
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