How were Saturns rings interpreted by early astronomers?
Centuries ago, astronomers saw Saturn’s ring as bulges on either side of the planet, which they guessed were moons. For this reason astronomer Galileo Galilei hypothesized in the early 1600s that Saturn was a triple-planet. What is the physical composition of Saturn’s rings? While the compositionof Saturn’s rings is not entirely known, scientists do know that they contain dust and a large quantity of water. The water is frozen in various forms, such as snowflacks, snowballs, hailstones, and icebergs, ranging in size from 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) or so to 10 yards (9 meters) in diameter. How were Saturn’s rings formed? Scientists are not sure how Saturn’s rings were formed. One theory suggests that the rings were once larger moons that were smashed to tiny pieces by comets or meteorites. Another theory holds that the rings are pre-moon matter, cosmic fragments that never quite formed a moon.
