Âé¶¹´«Ã½

Saturn's biggest ring was hiding

7 October 2009

A RING of space debris 2.4 million kilometres from edge to edge should be hard to miss, yes? Apparently not, since one this thick has been spotted orbiting Saturn. It’s the biggest ring found in our solar system so far.

The discovery seems to confirm the idea that the leading hemisphere of Saturn’s two-toned moon Iapetus is much darker than its trailing side because it has been coated with dust from collisions between debris and Saturn’s outer moons.

Anne Verbiscer of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville found the ring when she trained the Spitzer Space Telescope on a patch…

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox. We'll also keep you up to date with Âé¶¹´«Ã½ events and special offers.

Sign up

To continue reading, today with our introductory offers

or

Existing subscribers

Sign in to your account
Piano Exit Overlay Banner Mobile Piano Exit Overlay Banner Desktop