- THECEKODOK.COM - A La Une - 17/09/2024 14:15

Early Earth May Have Had Rings Like Saturn

Saturn, Neptune, Uranus and Jupiter are the four planets in the solar system that have rings. Saturn has the most prominent rings as they formed after two moons collided and broke apart several hundred million years ago. But now scientists release a new theory that the earth also once had rings nearly half a billion years ago.The latest study from researchers from Monash University in Australia says the earth had rings around 466 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. The theory of the existence of rings around the earth emerged after seeing 21 impact craters that existed during that period.The scientists found that all the craters exist around 30 degrees from the Equator which according to probability is something that should not happen because meteors should hit the surface of the earth randomly.Therefore, it is most likely that almost 500 million years ago, an asteroid was caught by the gravitational pull of the earth and then broke apart. These asteroid fragments then form a ring that surrounds the earth like fragments of Saturn's moons. Asteroid debris that formed this ring then rained on the earth for several tens of millions of years and it produced 21 craters that researchers found.This ring also blocked sunlight from the earth's surface which caused the beginning of the Hirnantian Ice Age which lasted for 1.4 million years. Researchers will continue the study to simulate the formation of the ring around the earth and how it then disappeared until it no longer exists now.