Saturn's Biggest Secret! Why Does Saturn Have Rings? | Starlo Stories

[00:00:00]Welcome to Smiley Star TV.

[00:00:05]>> Well, hi space explorers. I'm Starlo.

[00:00:08]Have you ever wondered why Saturn wears those giant rings? Let's find out together.

[00:00:15]Saturn is the second biggest planet in our solar system, but it's [music] beautiful rings make it truly special.

[00:00:25]Do you think these rings are made of one giant circle? Actually, no.

[00:00:35]Saturn's rings are made [music] of billions of tiny pieces, not one giant ring.

[00:00:45]Most of these pieces are made of ice.

[00:00:48]Some also contain rock and dust.

[00:00:56]Some pieces are tiny, like grains of sand.

[00:01:00]>> [music] >> Others are as big as houses.

[00:01:05]Saturn is so huge that more than 700 Earths could fit inside it.

[00:01:16]Here's something amazing. The rings are incredibly wide, but surprisingly very thin.

[00:01:26]If you looked at Saturn's rings from the side, they would almost disappear.

[00:01:36]That's because most parts of the rings are only about 100 m thick.

[00:01:45]Look carefully.

[00:01:47]These aren't just pretty rings. They're made of billions of tiny icy pieces.

[00:01:55]Look, some pieces are smaller than a grain of sand, but others are as big as a house.

[00:02:06]This giant ice rock is only one tiny part of Saturn's rings. Imagine billions more just like this.

[00:02:16]The rings look [music] thick, but here's the surprise.

[00:02:26]>> Most of the rings are only about 100 m thick.

[00:02:30]So, from the side, they almost disappear.

[00:02:35]>> But here's the biggest mystery.

[00:02:37]>> [music] >> Where did Saturn's rings come from?

[00:02:46]But long ago, when our solar system was still forming, Saturn looked very different.

[00:02:56]One idea says an icy moon came too close to Saturn.

[00:03:06]The icy pieces spread out and slowly formed [music] the beautiful rings we see today.

[00:03:16]>> But no one knows for sure.

[00:03:19]Scientists are still searching for the answer.

[00:03:27]>> And here's another mystery. Saturn is slowly losing its rings.

[00:03:37]Little by little, Saturn's gravity pulls tiny icy pieces downward.

[00:03:47]>> Scientists call this ring rain. [music] The rings are slowly losing material.

[00:03:56]>> This happens very slowly.

[00:03:59]It takes millions of years, so don't worry.

[00:04:07]We are very lucky.

[00:04:09]Today, we can still see Saturn's beautiful rings.

[00:04:16]Every planet is special, but Saturn is the only one with rings this bright.

[00:04:26]>> Now you know why Saturn is one of the most amazing planets.

[00:04:36]Can you guess which planet we should explore next?

[00:04:46]>> Thanks for exploring [music] space with me. I'm Starlo. I'll see you in our next space adventure.

[00:04:57]Thanks [music] for watching.

[00:05:05]>> [music]