Uncover the mystery behind Saturn’s iconic rings. ExtremeTech explains their origins and the science of our solar system.

The shredded moon formed Saturn’s rings, and its loss let Saturn’s tilt angle relax a bit to its present-day value of about 27 degrees (3). A doomed moon.

This precession is why you can see Saturn’s rings at a variety of angles throughout its orbit. IMAGE: Artistic rendering of the moon Chrysalis disintegrating in Saturn’s intense gravity field. The ...

This lost moon, the authors of the study say, is responsible for Saturn’s trademark feature: the rings. These astronomers didn’t set out to find a missing moon.

Saturn’s rings are not only the planet's most iconic features, but also rank among its most enigmatic aspects. ... Daphnis, a small moon of Saturn, sculpts its ring shape.

A 'grazing encounter' may have smashed the moon to bits to form Saturn’s signature rings. Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday.

Saturn is perhaps the best-known example, swathed by eight main rings made of thousands of smaller ringlets, but the other three outer planets also possess rings, the Voyager space missions revealed.

While the gas giant would have swallowed much of the moon’s mass and material, a small percentage of it most likely remained, acting as the origin of Saturn’s rings. Tech. Entertainment. Science.

A new photo taken by a spacecraft near Saturn shows a small moon making waves in the planet's rings. The photo, captured by the Cassini spacecraft on Jan. 16, reveals the moon Daphnis as it makes ...

There will be several chances to see the shadow of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, pass across the ringed planet's Earth-facing ...