Planet on the edge: are Saturn’s rings older than they appear?

 • A new study by researchers from the Institute of Science Tokyo and the Paris Institute of Planetary Physics offers a fresh perspective on the age of Saturn’s rings.

• Saturn’s rings are billions of bright-white water ice and rock pieces, with some as small as a grain of salt and others as large as a house.

• The rings are found to be relatively clean, with very little dirt, contrary to the expectation that dark dust would be omnipresent in the rings.

• The scientists hypothesize that Saturn’s rings are around 100 million years old, too young to have accumulated the dust.

• The study also suggests that the rings could be as old as the Solar System, as they have a way to eject foreign bodies that enter their delicate world.

• The study’s findings were published in the journal Nature Geoscience in December 2024.

• The study could also help explain why the Solar System’s four gas giants have such diverse ring systems.

• The dynamics unveiled in the study could infuse fresh insight into the debate.