#planetary-rings

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fromBig Think
2 weeks ago

400 years later, astronomers finally understand Saturn's rings

None of the rocky planets, asteroids, or known Kuiper belt objects have a system of rings. Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune possess them, but they're all much fainter, sparser, smaller, and less massive than Saturn's. In addition, Saturn's rings are: significantly tilted with respect to the planet's axis of rotation, are made almost exclusively of water-ice, and are actively in the process of evaporating.
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fromFuturism
2 months ago

James Webb Spots Mysterious Object Orbiting Uranus

James Webb Space Telescope discovered a tiny, roughly six-mile-wide moon orbiting Uranus, increasing the planet's known satellites to 29.
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