Humanity may be making a disastrous mistake about Saturn.

(NLĐO) - Scientists may have been "lost" for two decades since NASA's Cassini spacecraft approached Saturn.

According to a new study led by Dr. Ryuki Hyodo from the Tokyo Institute of Science (Japan), Saturn's rings may have a completely different origin and age than the widely accepted theories of the past.

According to Sci-News, when NASA's Cassini spacecraft approached Saturn in 2004, it observed that Saturn's rings appeared relatively bright and clean.

Subsequent analyses based on Cassini data suggest that this ring system is only a few million to a few hundred million years old, formed by meteorite collisions or even the collision of two of Saturn's moons.

Saturn has very "young" rings - Photo: NASA

"Saturn's rings were once estimated to be only about 100-400 million years old, based on the hypothesis that bombardment by non-icing micrometeorites must have darkened the rings over time," Dr. Hyodo explained.

Therefore, if this belt is billions of years old, it probably couldn't look as clean, smooth, and bright as we see it.

However, in the new study, researchers simulated collisions between micrometeorites and particles in the icy belt using computer models.

They discovered that high-speed collisions can cause micrometeorites to vaporize, after which the water vapor expands, cools, and condenses in Saturn's magnetic field to form nanoparticles and charged ions.

These charged particles will then collide with Saturn, either being pulled into the planet's atmosphere or escaping its gravitational pull entirely.

Therefore, very little of this type of material is deposited on the rings, which is why Saturn's rings are always clean and smooth.

Based on simulations, the Japanese research team believes that Saturn's rings actually formed in the planet's early stages and are 4.5 billion years old, despite maintaining a "young" appearance.

This discovery, recently published in the scientific journal Nature Geoscience , is particularly valuable because the mechanisms involved in the rings strongly influence the properties of everything related to the planet.

This is important because Saturn is a fascinating target for planetary scientists, especially since it possesses several potentially habitable moons like Titan and Enceladus.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/nhan-loai-co-the-lam-lan-tai-hai-ve-sao-tho-196241219095238989.htm