Saturn's rings may have formed from a collision between two icy moons millions of years ago, according to supercomputer simulations by NASA. This discovery provides new insights into the Saturn system and poses questions about potential life on its moons. On a clear night, with a decent amateur t
Supercomputer simulations suggest that Saturn’s rings might have originated from a massive collision between two icy moons during the age of dinosaurs. Collaborative research by NASA utilized the DiRAC supercomputing facility to simulate potential moon collisions, revealing that various scenarios could disperse the right amount of ice into Saturn’s Roche limit to form its distinctive rings.
New NASA and Durham University simulations put forth a theory of the origin of Saturn’s rings and icy moons – they may have formed following a massive collision between two moons orbiting the gas giant. The simulations used in this research are some of the most detailed of their kind to study the formation of Saturn’s rings and potentially habitable icy moons.
Artist’s depiction of NASA’s Cassini during its 2017 “grand finale,” in which the spacecraft dove between Saturn and its rings multiple times before purposefully crashing into the planet’s atmosphere. Credit: NASA/JPL-CaltechBy simulating almost 200 different versions of the impact, the team discovered that a wide range of collision scenarios could scatter the right amount of ice into Saturn’s Roche limit, where it could settle into rings.
Ice and rocky debris would also have hit other moons in the system, potentially causing a cascade of collisions. Such a multiplying effect could have disrupted any other precursor moons outside the rings, out of which today’s moons could have formed.
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