Description

Did Earth have rings like Saturn?
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Saturn’s giant rings make it the most easily recognisable planet in the solar system. But what if Earth had a ring system of its own? The answer might surprise you. New evidence suggests that half a billion years ago, Earth actually did have its own rings encircling the planet. What would they have looked like from the ground? And could Earth ever develop a spectacular set of rings again in the future?



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0:00 Rings on Earth
1:45 What Did They Look Like?
3:42 The Evidence
7:30 Clues on Mars and the Moon
9:28 How Did the Rings Form?
12:38 Mars Had Rings Too
14:35 Did the Rings Trigger an Ice Age?
15:27 Where Did the Rings Go?
17:38 Ring Aurora
18:22 The Moon
19:21 What If Earth Had Rings Today?
23:07 Impact on Astronomy



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References:
“Evidence Suggesting That Earth Had a Ring in the Ordovician”, via sciencedirect.com https://astrumspace.info/ordovicianring
“What If Earth Had Rings?”, via livescience.com https://astrumspace.info/earthrings
“Roche Limit Explained”, via skyatnightmagazine.com https://astrumspace.info/rochelimit
“Types of Orbits”, via esa.int https://astrumspace.info/typesoforbits
“Hill Sphere”, via cosmobc.com https://astrumspace.info/hillsphere

“Collisional Damping in Debris Discs”, via aanda.org https://astrumspace.info/debrisdiscs
“Satellite Ring Cycle of Mars”, via nature.com https://astrumspace.info/marsring
“Gravity Gradient Torque”, via sciencedirect.com https://astrumspace.info/gravitytorque
“Late Ordovician Mass Extinction”, via annualreviews.org https://astrumspace.info/ordovician
“Resonances and Rings”, via cornell.edu https://astrumspace.info/resonancering



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Credits:
Writer: Julia Masselos
Video Editor: Alexandre Nowakowski
Researcher: Shourya Shrivastava
Script Editor: Damaris McColgan
Thumbnail Designers: Peter Sheppard, Juane Dames
Publishing Lead: Georgina Brenner
Edit Producer: Poppy Pinnock
Head of Astrum: Jess Jordan
Creator of Astrum: Alex McColgan



With special thanks to:
NASA/ESO/ESA



#Astrum #Space #EarthRings