Saturn’s rings will completely disappear from the landscape in just six months and will remain invisible for several months after that, according to NASA. This phenomenon will occur because of the unique tilt in the axis of the planet Saturn.
Saturn ring PHOTO: Nasa
The space agency revealed last year that stargazers have until 2025 to see the iconic structures before Saturn tilts towards Earth, turning the vast rings into an almost invisible line.
But an updated forecast suggested the rings would become invisible from March 23. The cosmic phenomenon is not a sign of disaster, but is due to Saturn’s orbit around the Sun and its unique axial tilt.
In March 2025, Earth and Saturn will line up in such a way that viewers using telescopes will be able to see Saturn’s rings from the edge, creating the illusion that they have completely disappeared.
The rings will gradually return to view before disappearing again in November 2025.
Astronomers have observed the periodic invisibility of the rings for centuries, as the event occurs every 13 to 16 years.
According to the cited publication, the last time Saturn’s rings disappeared from Earth’s view was in 2009. This time, they are expected to disappear in March 2025.
“This will probably be the last time we see this disappearing act until at least 2027 or 2028,” said Jonti Horner, professor of astrophysics at the University of Southern Queensland.
How scientists explain the phenomenon
This rare phenomenon is not only a fascinating spectacle for stargazers, but also an important learning opportunity for scientists.
Throughout history, astronomers have discovered at least 13 of Saturn’s 148 moons while crossing the ring plane, including the famous Titan, Enceladus and Mimas.
During a pass through the plane of the rings in 1966, astronomers first saw Saturn’s outermost ring, now known as the “E ring”.
This ring is not as flat or defined as the other six rings of the planet. NASA describes it as “a faint, thin donut surrounding Saturn.”
Saturn’s rings appear invisible when Earth crosses “the plane of the rings” planet – any region of space that is in line with Saturn’s rings.
From this angle, “they reflect very little light and are very hard to see, making them virtually invisible”University of Southern California physicist and astronomer Vahe Peroomian previously told CBS News.
Saturn’s wide rings are made up of billions of pieces of comets, asteroids and shattered satellites that broke apart before reaching the planet due to Saturn’s gravity.
As Saturn completes its 29.4-year orbit around the Sun, it tilts at an angle of 26.7 degrees and therefore appears to tilt up and down as seen from Earth.
When Saturn is tilted in the opposite direction from Earth, we see its lower rings. When the planet is tilted toward Earth, we see its rings from above.
But every 13-16 years, Earth and Saturn align in such a way that we can see the rings on the edge. The rings are enormous, stretching about 175,000 miles and encircling the entire planet 72,367 miles wide. But their thickness is less than the length of a football field – which is extremely small compared to the planet itself.
According to NASA, if Saturn were to shrink to the size of a basketball, then the rings would be about 1/250th the thickness of a human hair. This is why the rings appear to disappear when viewed edge-on.
In millions of years, however, these iconic cosmic structures may disappear for good.
Studies suggest that the rings are slowly falling inside the planet in a process known as “rain of rings”, partly because of meteoroids crashing into the rings and pushing pieces of them into Saturn’s gravitational pull.
