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Saturn’s Icy Rings Likely Formed from Lost Moon "Chrysalis"
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Saturn’s Icy Rings Likely Formed from Lost Moon "Chrysalis"

Universe Today·Laurence Tognetti, MSc·23 days ago
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You’re a long-necked Titanosaurs grazing the plains and chomping away on tree leaves about 100 million years ago in the Early Cretaceous in what would eventually become a future Starbucks location. You look up at the night sky and notice a bright dot that seems slightly larger and brighter than usual since you’ve seen it a bunch. You grunt at your cousin (official dinosaur language) asking if he notices it, too. Your cousin grunts back that it does seem bigger and brighter and wonders what’s up. These Titanosaurs cousins might be about 100 million years too early for a good science class, but what they see in this piece of fiction is Saturn after it gets its rings. This is because scientists estimate the famed ringed planet got its most striking feature approximately 100 million years ago. But exactly how Saturn got its rings has been debated for quite a while, but a team of scientists from the United States and China might be a step closer to solving this conundrum.…

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