Scientists Miscalculate Saturn Rings Lifespan By 200M Years

New research discloses that Saturn's distinctive rings, the largest and brightest in our solar system, are disintegrating more rapidly than scientists had originally anticipated.

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The gradual disappearance of the planet's noted feature has been a known phenomenon since the 1980s when the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Voyager mission discovered 'ring rain' caught in Saturn's magnetic fields.

The rain consists of a mixture of mostly ice and rock particles, which are caught between the pull of Saturn's gravity and orbital velocity, meaning that the ring particles are simultaneously being drawn towards the planet and outer space.

Currently, 10,000 kilograms of ring rain is falling on Saturn per second, enough liquid to fill an Olympic-size pool in 30 minutes.

While scientists originally estimated the rain would take 300 million years to completely drain Saturn's rings, which extend 280,000 kilometers from the planet, new calculations have resulted in a new estimate of only 100 million years. The new calculations were made possible by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which provided experts with a closer look at the rate of ring-dust falling on the planet's equator before it plunged into the atmosphere and ended its journey.

While Saturn has been around for approximately 4.5 billion years, the rings are suspected to be around for about 100-200 million years.

Some scientists theorize that the rings were formed through the collision of small, icy moons orbiting the planet.