Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The planet Saturn has a distinctive characteristic, namely that it is surrounded by ring-shaped chunks of ice and rock. However, Saturn’s rings are said to be disappearing in the near future.
According to observers, in 2025 the rings will not be visible from Earth, at least for a while.
Saturn’s ring system extends 175,000 miles from the planet’s surface, making it clearly visible to stargazers on Earth.
According to NASA, in 2025, the gas giant will tilt towards Earth, making the large ring appear to disappear into an almost invisible line.
Although the structure is very wide with the vertical height of the rings typically being 30 feet, the rings are nearly impossible to see giving the illusion that the rings have disappeared.
This astronomical event, called the Saturnian equinox, last occurred in September 2009. The next equinox is expected to occur on May 6, 2025, according to the European Space Agency.
The rings will become visible again after Saturn’s tilt is further adjusted, allowing astronomers on Earth to see the planet’s south pole, as quoted from FoxNewsTuesday (7/11/2023).
Missing Saturn Rings Makes Scientists Worried
The second largest planet was first discovered by the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei in 1610. The circular celestial rings on Saturn consist of pieces of comets, asteroids, moon fragments, dust and ice,
Some of the debris in the ring is smaller than a grain of sand, while others are larger than a mountain.
But the rings are disappearing at a rate that is worrying scientists.
Gravity is pulling material from Saturn’s rings toward the surface and the rings will probably disappear completely in the next 300 million years
“Saturn loses its rings at a ‘worst case scenario’ rate,” NASA wrote in 2018.
“We’re still trying to figure out how fast the erosion is,” said Dr. James O’Donoghue, former NASA scientist in April.
Currently, research suggests that the rings will only be part of Saturn for the next few hundred million years.
The disappearance of this ring may sound like it will still happen for a long time. But in the history of the universe, this is a relatively quick death.
“We could be very lucky to be in the universe at a time when rings still exist,” O’Donoghue said.
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Originally posted 2023-11-07 14:05:00.