Gaps in the soup of high-energy particles near the orbits of two of Saturn’s tiny moons indicate that Saturn may be surrounded by undiscovered, near-invisible partial rings. A paper in the February issue of the journal Icarus suggests that the larger saturnian moons may not be the only ones contributing material to Saturn's ring system. picked by AutumnLotus 8 months ago

New observations by a spacecraft suggest Saturn's second-largest moon may be surrounded by rings. If confirmed, it would the first time a ring system has been found around a moon. picked by AutumnLotus 7 months ago

The formation of strange flying-saucer-shaped moons embedded in Saturn's rings have baffled scientists. New findings suggest they're born largely from clumps of icy particles in the rings themselves, an insight that could shed light on how Earth and other planets coalesced from the disk of matter that once surrounded our newborn sun. picked by AutumnLotus 10 months ago

Saturn: jewel of the solar system, taker of breaths, ringed beauty. Even veteran astronomers can't help but gasp when they see her through a small telescope.

Red Alert: Saturn's rings are vanishing.

Around the world, amateur astronomers have noticed the change; Saturn's wide open rings are rapidly narrowing into a thin line. picked by AutumnLotus 7 months ago

Cassini scientists may have identified the source of one of Saturn's more mysterious rings. Saturn's G ring likely is produced by relatively large, icy particles that reside within a bright arc on the ring's inner edge. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Scientists appear to have solved a long-standing mystery about the cause of anomalies in Jupiter's gossamer rings. In a new study published, they report that a faint extension of the outermost ring beyond the orbit of Jupiter's moon Thebe, and other observed deviations from an accepted model of ring formation, result from the interplay of shadow and sunlight on dust particles that make up the ring... read full post picked by AutumnLotus 5 months ago

Saturn's shimmering rings may be as old as the solar system, scientists said Wednesday, debunking earlier theories that the rings were formed during the dinosaur age. picked by AutumnLotus 10 months ago

This 3D movie was made from a sequence of images taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft as it crossed the plane of Saturn's main rings. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Saturn has a newly discovered ring, a faint trail of particles just visible in between some of its better-known rings, NASA said on Tuesday. picked by Galoot 2 years ago

There are some really innovative, whacky, cool, and downright outrageous rings out there. Here is a list of Top 10 Most Unusual Rings of 2008. picked by Bornbad 3 weeks ago

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has found a bizarre ring of material around the magnetic remains of a star that blasted to smithereens. picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago

One of Saturn's rings does housecleaning, soaking up material gushing from the fountains on Saturn's tiny ice moon Enceladus, according to new observations from the Cassini spacecraft. picked by AutumnLotus 8 months ago

Saturn is now at its best in our late-winter sky. It appears below and to the left of the conspicuous "sickle" or backwards question-mark pattern of stars marking the head and mane of the constellation of Leo, the Lion.

What we see with the naked eye is a bright yellowish-white "star" shining with a steady light. picked by AutumnLotus 8 months ago

Astronomers have captured their first glare-free glimpse of Uranus's rings since they were first photographed more than 20 years ago by the Voyager spacecraft. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

A virtual game version of those plastic stacking rings you had as a toddler. But more fun. picked by gnikgnok 1 year ago

An invisible donut of trapped, hot particles surrounding Saturn is all bent out of shape--a finding that astronomers can't yet explain. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Scientists have gotten their best “look” ever at the invisible ring of energetic ions trapped in Saturn’s giant magnetic field, finding that it is asymmetric and dynamic, unlike similar rings that appear around Earth. Includes VIDEO. picked by AutumnLotus 10 months ago

One of Saturn's moons may once have harboured a liquid ocean beneath its icy surface. Tethys is a mid-sized satellite with a density close to that of pure ice. But a large valley system visible today must have formed when the crust was being heated and under great strain. picked by AutumnLotus 7 months ago

The scientists behind the Cassini orbiter have announced the discovery of Saturn's 60th moon, a little thing that showed up in time-lapse photography of the ringed planet. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Saturn's moon Iapetus has virtually no gray. Rather, its features are all stark black and white. The appearance has long puzzled astronomers. New detailed images suggest sunlight is melting ice on one side of Iapetus, leaving the moon's dark surface exposed, while the opposite half retains its reflective ice-mixed shell. picked by AutumnLotus 12 months ago