What if Earth had rings around it? Could the Earth have rings around it? The answer is yes....but they may not look the way Saturn's rings do... So a small moon or larger asteroid could hit earth and shatter creating a ring of dust, chunks of rock, and particles. But how long would they last because the gravity of Earth would pull the debris into the atmosphere and burn it up. Saturn's rings are made of ice. This is because Saturn is 85 million miles away from the Sun! At Earth's distance from the Sun ice crystals would sublimate into a gas and escape into space. So these kinds of rings would disappear very quickly. If the rings were made of pebbles they could definitely be seen during the night and day. Look how bright the moon shines at night when the Sun light reflects of its surface. The rings might be reddish colored like our sunsets as it reflects off the dust particles circling the Earth. Saturn's rings are really close together because of their icy composition and there are thousands of rings in the band. Earth's rings may have gaps. Having rings around Earth would hinder our space exploration because we would have to figure out how to leave Earth's gravitational pull without being hit by thousands of pieces of rock and dust! This ring could leave a shadow across the Earth as well, making temperatures on Earth cooler. Anyway, kind of interesting to think about....what do you think?
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Mrs. TaylorI love science! Everything about the world is interesting and never boring. I love to study plants, animals, insects, and people. My favorite subjects are my students who are the most unique organisms on the planet! Categories |