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Gareth Dorrian, Post Doctoral Research Fellow in Space Science, University of Birmingham

Saturn: we may finally know when the magnificent rings were formed

A colour-exaggerated view of Saturn backlit by the sun. NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Saturn’s rings are one of the jewels of the solar system, but it seems that their time is short and their existence fleeting.

A new study suggests the rings are between 400 million and 100 million years old – a fraction of the age of the solar system. This means we are just lucky to be living in an age when the giant planet has its magnificent rings. Research also reveals that they could be gone in another 100 million years.

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