Posted on 09/21/2014 6:35:14 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Explanation: How would Saturn look if its ring plane pointed right at the Sun? Before August 2009, nobody knew. Every 15 years, as seen from Earth, Saturn's rings point toward the Earth and appear to disappear. The disappearing rings are no longer a mystery -- Saturn's rings are known to be so thin and the Earth is so near the Sun that when the rings point toward the Sun, they also point nearly edge-on at the Earth. Fortunately, in this third millennium, humanity is advanced enough to have a spacecraft that can see the rings during equinox from the side. In August 2009, that Saturn-orbiting spacecraft, Cassini, was able to snap a series of unprecedented pictures of Saturn's rings during equinox. A digital composite of 75 such images is shown above. The rings appear unusually dark, and a very thin ring shadow line can be made out on Saturn's cloud-tops. Objects sticking out of the ring plane are brightly illuminated and cast long shadows. Inspection of these images is helping humanity to understand the specific sizes of Saturn's ring particles and the general dynamics of orbital motion. This week, Earth undergoes an equinox.
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
[Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, ISS, JPL, ESA, NASA]
Oh wow. Oh wow.
Breathtaking.
Great pic!
To be fair, most astronomers don't actively disbelieve in the existence of God. (I've heard the term "anti-theist" applied to those with an active disbelief.)
Rather, like Laplace ("I had no need of that hypothesis"), they merely cite the lack of firm evidence which would be necessary for them to actively believe in the existence of Zeus, Odin, Ahura Mazda, Allah, etc.
Regards,
I’m SURE there’s an explanation/solid theories, but I’ve always wondered how planetary rings(especially Saturn’s) are able to maintain such a perfect shape and be so stable. I wonder why the gravity from such a large planet doesn’t just pull the rings into it. I understand Saturn’s many Moons play a role regarding the rings.
Definitely one of the more fascinating planets in our Solar System. Would be neat if our Earth had some rings. I bet they would be cool looking after dark. I’d imagine they wouldn’t be visible during the more bright daylight hours.
8<)
Beautiful image.
Sounds like they’ve been able to count (estimate) the number of large objects in the rings. The ones large enough to stick up far enough at least to cast a shadow.
Stunning! We live in the most awesome Solar System. :)
How does Saturn prove the existence of God?
Or, another way of looking at it is, there is but one God who rules the universe. His name is Gravity.
Perhaps it doesn't,by itself,*prove* God's existence but it most assuredly strongly *suggests* His existence.
That is beautiful - thanks!
Beautiful! :-)
Yeah, and I wonder why the gravity from the Earth doesn't just "pull" the Moon into it? And why doesn't the gravity from the Sun - which constitutes approx. 99.8% of the mass of the entire Solar System - just "pull" all the planets into it?!
/s
Regards,
But why? Why don't they just mind their own business instead of attracting other particles?
Was just a question. If you know the answer, just tell me, rather than being sarcastic about it. Science and physics isn’t within the stronger part of my knowledge base. When I don’t know something, I simply just ask. :p
Ask, and ye shall receive:
The rings of Saturn are not solid rings - rather, they merely appear to be such. In actual fact, they are merely millions upon millions of individual moonlets, each describing an independent orbit around Saturn.
Saturn does pull each moonlet towards itself. That is, each moonlet is indeed responding to Saturn's tremendous gravity - rather than, say, flying off at a tangent and away from Saturn forever. So, each moonlet is falling towards Saturn, just as an apple dropping from a tree on Earth falls towards Earth (accelerating at a rate of 32 ft per second per second). However, each moonlet happens to have just the right speed at a tangent to its orbit which might be said to be counteracting (not resisting - just compensating for) its fall.
How is it that each moonlet has exactly the "right" speed - to prevent it from falling into Saturn, or flying away into space? Intelligent Design? No! It merely happens that all the other moonlets - with too high or too low a speed - were, in fact, thrown into space or engulfed by Saturn, respectively. So, what we see are the survivors (The Selection Effect).
Regards,
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
