Saturn’s rings will mysteriously disappear this weekend and here's why

Saturn is admired for its spectacular rings, however a major event is set to take place this weekend, which means they will disappear from view.

The sixth planet from the Sun in our solar system is a gas giant, meaning it’s mostly composed of hydrogen and helium with no solid surface. It's famous ring system is made up of rice, rock, and dust particles.

It has a very short day, which lasts a mere 10.7 hours to complete one full rotation on its axis and a year on Saturn, or the time it takes to orbit the Sun once, is roughly the equivalent of 29.4 Earth years. Saturn rotates on an axis tired at 27 degrees.

So, what's going on with Saturn?

Saturn is about to look very different Photo by Planet Volumes on Unsplash

Why are Saturn’s rings ‘disappearing’?

On Sunday, March 23, 2025, Saturn’s famed rings will seemingly vanish. For the past seven years, the planet’s rings have been gradually tilted edge-on as seen from Earth. As a result, they will become “invisible” this weekend.

This is because every 14.5 years, Saturn’s rings align perfectly with the line of sight when viewing the planet from Earth, making them appear like a sliver. This rare moment will happen on Sunday.

So, the “disappearance” of Saturn’s rings this month is essentially an optical illusion caused by the planet’s tilt, which makes the rings vanish when viewed edge-on from Earth. This phenomenon, known as a ring-plane crossing, occurs roughly every 15 years and it’s not permanent vanishing.

The rings are expected to be in full view again in the next few months and by 2032, Saturn will reach its maximum tilt, giving stargazers a clear view once again.

How many rings does Saturn have?

Saturn has seven main rings, each labeled after a letter in the alphabet.

In the order of their discovery, they are labelled: D, C, B, A, F, G, and E.

A and B are the brightest, and B being the widest and thickest.

Did Earth Have Rings Like Saturn?

Apparently so! A recent study suggests Earth might have had a similar ring system over 50 million years ago.

As part of the research, 21 asteroid craters from 466 million years ago - otherwise known as the “Ordovician impact spike” - were analysed and these all just so happened to be located in an area close to the equator.

This caught the attention of scientists for two reasons, the first being that at this time period, over 70 per cent of the planet’s continental crust was outside this area.

Secondly, asteroid strikes tend to be random making the impact of craters can be seen in various locations - just like we see craters all over the Moon and Mars.

It was initially thought that a large asteroid was the cause of this impact pattern close to the equator.

However, this study theorises tidal forces caused the asteroid to break up which then formed a debris ring around Earth, just like Saturn.

“Over millions of years, material from this ring gradually fell to Earth, creating the spike in meteorite impacts observed in the geological record,” Andy Tomkins, the study's author from Monash University in Australia, explained.

“We also see that layers in sedimentary rocks from this period contain extraordinary amounts of meteorite debris.”

You should also read:

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8 key events that NASA's stranded astronauts missed while stuck in space

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