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Which planet has the ring around it?
The beauty of Saturn’s rings have resulted in the planet being nicknamed the Jewel of the Solar System. However, all of the gas giants have systems of rings around them, including the king of the planets, Jupiter.
How many ringed planets are there?
Four the planets in the Solar System have rings. They are the four giant gas planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Saturn, which has by far the largest ring system, was known to have rings for a long time.
Which is the only planet that has rings?
Most people associate planetary rings with Saturn because its rings are more visible and colorful compared to the other planets. For decades, researchers believed that Saturn was the only planet with rings, but advancements in technology led to the development of space probes that discovered rings around the gaseous planets.
When was the ring system of Jupiter discovered?
The ring system of Jupiter was discovered in 1979 by Voyager 1 as it conducted a flyby of the planet, but its nature was not well understood until the early 1990s when the Galileo orbiter thoroughly investigated it. Jupiter’s rings are faint because they are made up of dust and can only be observed by a powerful telescope.
What was the name of the spacecraft that saw the Rings of Saturn?
On Aug. 11, 2009, Cassini became the only spacecraft ever to give scientists an up-close view of Saturn’s rings during the planet’s equinox. Like Earth, Saturn’s axis of rotation is tilted. For half of a Saturn year, the ringed planet appears to bow toward the sun, which then illuminates the top of the rings.
When was the ring system of Uranus discovered?
Uranus’ ring system lies between the level of complexity of Saturn’s vast system and the simpler systems around Jupiter and Neptune. They were discovered in 1977 by James L. Elliot, Edward W. Dunham, and Jessica Mink.