03. Does Saturn have real rings? What causes Saturn's rings? (A K2S Question)
From The Space Library
Yes, Saturn's rings are real. We don't know exactly how they formed, but we are fairly certain they arose from the complete break-up of an icy body, or several smaller icy bodies. This was either a moon of Saturn's that was broken by a collision with an incoming meteor, or a very large comet-like body from the outer solar system that got too close to Saturn and was torn apart and captured into orbit.
Answer provided by Carolyn Porco, Ph.D.
Question and Answer extracted from the book Kids to Space - by Lonnie Schorer
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