Saturn’s rings, one of the most iconic and visually stunning features of our solar system, are gradually fading away. Scientists have long marveled at these rings, studying their intricate details and ...

Astronomers discovered a ring around a distant dwarf planet beyond Neptune at a distance from the dwarf planet that was previously thought to be impossible, defying astronomers’ understanding of how ...

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Left to right: Saturn, Uranus, and Jupiter show off their rings for various NASA spacecraft.

Planetary rings are one of the most striking sights in the solar system, yet not every planet has them. Saturn’s rings are the most famous, but other gas giants also have smaller and less visible ...

In a breakthrough study scientists have solved an age-old scientific riddle by discovering that planetary rings, such as those orbiting Saturn, have a universally similar particle distribution. The ...

The rings that make Saturn such a spectacle are probably heating its atmosphere and making it glow at ultraviolet wavelengths. Researchers detected an excess of ultraviolet emission in Saturn’s ...

This beautiful graphic explains and compares planetary rings: disks containing small chunks of ice and other materials that orbit a larger object. Rings tend to be found within a critical distance of ...

The rings that adorn the four giant planets are of prime importance as accessible natural laboratories for disk processes, as clues to the origin and evolution of planetary systems, and as shapers as ...

Astronomers have discovered what they think may be another moon orbiting a distant dwarf planet called Quaoar. This small, icy, egg-shaped planet in the far reaches of our solar system, beyond Neptune ...

This chapter of the book Planetary Ring Systems addresses the origin of planetary rings, one of the least understood processes related to planet formation and evolution. Whereas rings seem ubiquitous ...