WELL-KNOWN pieces of our solar system could be at risk of disappearing, according to space scientists.
Saturn’s rings, which are made up of chunks of ice, are falling onto the planet as icy rain due to its intense gravity.
The rings are not a permanent fixture, with some experts suggesting they could be ‘only’ 100 million years old, meaning they may not have existed during the dinosaurs’ time on Earth.
Scientists are working to uncover more about the rings’ future, and how long they will remain.
Dr James O’Donoghue, formerly of NASA, will be working with the University of Reading’s from December 2023 to track their destruction rate using some of the world’s most powerful telescopes, including the Keck telescope in Hawai’i and the space-based James Webb Space Telescope.
He explained: “We’re still trying to figure out exactly how fast they are eroding. Currently, research suggests the rings will only be part of Saturn for another few hundred million years.
“This may sound like a long time, but in the history of the universe this is a relatively quick death. We could be very lucky to be around at a time when the rings exist.
“Saturn may be many millions of miles away, but I believe the key to understanding how fast its rings are disappearing may lie with some of the world’s leading atmospheric scientists in Berkshire.
“Working with the meteorology experts at Reading will give me the opportunity to finally find out what is going on with our giant planetary neighbour.”
Dr Donoghue’s research will be funded by the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Ernest Rutherford Fellowship, which is awarded to ten promising early-career academics to establish novel research projects and conduct cutting-edge science.
The former Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency scientist also plans to solve a decades-old mystery of why the upper atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn are so hot, despite being so far from the Sun.
The two planets receive less than 4% of the sunlight the Earth does, but have consistent atmospheric temperatures of around 200 degrees celsius. This means the Sun cannot be their main heat source in the uppermost parts of these worlds – it is unclear where the heat originates from.
Dr O’Donoghue said: “Jupiter and Saturn are so far from the Sun that their atmospheres should be around -70 degrees celsius. Yet interplanetary space probes and telescopes have shown them to be much, much hotter.
“What’s behind this mystery heating of Jupiter and Saturn has been puzzling astronomers like me for more than half a century.”
