
Saturn’s rings younger than previously thought—just a few hundred million years
Saturn’s rings are much younger than scientists once thought, according to new research from IU Professor Emeritus of Astronomy Richard Durisen—and they are not here to stay. For decades, there has been debate about the origin of Saturn’s icy rings. But according to two new studies from Durisen, published in Icarus, the rings are no more than a few hundred million years old—much younger than the planet itself, which formed 4.5 billion years ago. In fact, Durisen said the rings may well have formed when dinosaurs were still walking on the Earth.
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