Saturn

The different rings and moons of Saturn
Home | Voyages to Saturn | Composition | The different rings and moons of Saturn | Further Exploration | Links | About Us

Saturn's rings, unlike the rings of the other planets, are very bright albedo 0.2 - 0.6. Though they look continuous from the Earth, the rings are actually composed of innumerable small particles each in an independent orbit. They range in size from a centimeter or so to several meters. A few kilometer-sized objects are also likely. Saturn's rings are extraordinarily thin: though they're 250,000 km or more in diameter they're less than one kilometer thick. Despite their impressive appearance, there's really very little material in the rings -- if the rings were compressed into a single body it would be no more than 100 km across.