It is believed that the rings of Saturn are millions of years old. Scientists believe that the rings of the sixth planet are as old as the entire solar system.
Scientific debates about the age of Saturn's rings have not subsided for a long time. More and more scientists are inclined to believe that they are relatively young. So, many astronomers believe that the rings around this planet formed about 200 million years ago, i.e. then, when huge reptiles - dinosaurs ruled on Earth.
To confirm this argument, reference is made to the composition of the ring system. With an impressive weight of the rings of 15.4 trillion tons, over 95% of their mass is ice. If the rings were older, then for billions of years there would have been a large amount of dust and microscopic meteorites on them. At the same time, a large amount of silicates would be found on the rings, which is actually not observed.
According to the French astrophysicist Aurelian Creed and his employees working at the Cote d'Azur Observatory in France, the above arguments regarding the youth of the rings of Saturn are quite simple and erroneous. In the scientific journal Nature Astronomy, they refute conventional theory and introduce assumptions that the rings of a giant planet are much more years old. Moreover, they could form together with Saturn.
To confirm their hypothesis, they give an example of a change in the intensity of meteorite bombing of this section of the solar system at different periods of its existence.Today, the number of meteorites may be greater due to the destruction of these celestial bodies in the Kuiper belt. The possibility of natural “self-cleaning” of the rings is also possible.
These assumptions are also confirmed by data obtained from the Cassini probe in 2017. He managed to penetrate into the middle of the gas giant. It was found that in the upper layers of the giant there are a large number of organic substances and small objects between the rings. Such small particles can come from the very rings, "washed out" in a natural way. Therefore, we cannot see any significant pollution of these bright objects.
In favor of the antiquity of the rings of Saturn, their impressive mass also speaks. 15.4 trillion tons is enough for an age of several billion years.
It is believed that the rings were formed as a result of a collision of one of the satellites of the planet with a comet or asteroid or a collision of two satellites. They could collapse as a result of the force of mutual attraction. New research into the Cassini space probe may shed light on the mystery of the origin of the mysterious rings.
So far, the hypothesis of the young rings of Saturn has some unresolved problems. Existing technologies and methods of astronomical research cannot measure the age of these objects. Therefore, various theories can coexist in science, indicating the time of the appearance of the rings of Saturn.
