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12/11/23 14:42 PM IST

Saturn’s rings briefly ‘disappear’ from view in 2025

In News
  • One of the most spectacular sights in the Solar System is the majestic ringed planet Saturn, which is clearly visible in the evening sky through a telescope. In 2025, however, Saturn’s rings will seemingly disappear from view.
Reason for disappearance
  • Like Earth’s axis of rotation, which is tilted by 23.5 degrees, Saturn’s axis of rotation has a 26.7 degree tilt — its enormous ring system is also tilted to the plane of Saturn’s orbit.
  • As a result, when Saturn revolves around the Sun, it seems to nod up and down when viewed from Earth and the view of its rings also keeps changing.
  • Saturn takes 29.5 years to complete an orbit around the Sun and every 13 to 15 years, the edge of its rings aligns directly with Earth.
  • As the rings are very thin — in most places, just tens of metres thick — at this position, “they reflect very little light, and are very difficult to see, making them essentially invisible.
  • Saturn’s rings will not be visible from Earth because they will be perfectly aligned with our line of sight. The rings will gradually return to view as the planet will continue to revolve around the Sun.
  • According to the NASA, Saturn would probably lose its rings completely in the next 300 million years, or even sooner than that.
  • It will probably happen because the rings are being pulled into the planet by its gravity as a dusty rain of ice particles under the influence of Saturn’s magnetic field.
Source- Indian Express

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