Oct. 5 (UPI) --New analysis of observations made during the Cassini's "Grand Finale" plunge suggests Saturn's rings are surprisingly complex in their chemical composition. The data also suggests ...

[Related: Hubble telescope spies Saturn’s rings in ‘spoke season. ... They modify the upper atmosphere, changing the composition,” said Ben-Jaffel.

Such studies cite the rings' composition — more than 95% pure water ice — and total mass, ... Crida therefore thinks that Saturn's rings are ancient — as old as the solar system.

Illustration of Cassini diving between Saturn and its innermost rings as part of the mission's Grand Finale. The spacecraft will perform a series of 22 daring orbits passing through the yet ...

Icy 'rain' from Saturn's rings is heating the gas giant's atmosphere, a phenomenon never seen in the solar system before, ... "They modify the upper atmosphere, changing the composition, ...

The researchers were able to determine both the composition and the size of the core — which stretches across 60% of the planet’s diameter — by looking at the rings. “We used Saturn’s ...

Scientists have compiled 41 solar occultation observations of Saturn's rings from the Cassini mission. The compilation will inform future investigations of the particle size distribution and ...

Saturn's rings, made primarily of water-ice, are unique among all the planets in the Solar System. NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute Made of 99% water-ice, nobody knows where they ...

Saturn’s rings might have formed while trilobites scuttled about on Earth. Space dust has been accumulating on the icy halos for no more than 400 million years, ... charge and composition.

Saturn is renowned for its rings, easily visible through an ordinary telescope. Now, using observations collected over 40 years, scientists have discovered a never-before-seen interaction between ...

The rings extend from some 2,000 km above Saturn’s cloud tops to about 80,000 km away, occupying a large area of space. When in-falling dust passes through, it can collide with icy particles in ...

There’s something poetic about the notion that Saturn’s shimmering, icy rings are ephemeral, lasting for a mere astronomical blink — only 10 million to 100 million years.