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| The Planets | Zoom Astronomy |
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| SATURN |
| General Description |
Inside Saturn and the Atmosphere | Rings | Moons | Activities, Web Links |
| SATURN'S RINGS |  |
Saturn's beautiful rings are only visible from Earth using a telescope. They were first observed by Galileo in 1610 (using his 20-power telescope).
The rings are divided into 7 major ring divisions. There are two main sections (called rings A and B) plus the smaller ring (Ring C or the Crepe ring), D and F rings; the larger gap in the rings is called the Cassini division; the smaller one is the Encke division. Starting closest to Saturn, the rings and divisions are: D, C, B, The Cassini Division, A, the Encke division, and F (subdivided into G and E, and a ring with visible clumps of matter, called knots).
 Saturn's moon Prometheus and Pandora, shepherding Saturn's narrow, outer F Ring. |
Saturn's bright rings are made of ice chunks and rocks that range in size from the size of a fingernail to the size of a car. Although the rings are very extremely wide (almost 185,000 miles = 300,000 km in diameter), they are very thin (about 0.6 miles = 1 km thick).
| Ring/Gap | Start radius (km) from the center of Saturn | End radius (km) | Width (km) |
|---|---|---|---|
| D | 67,000 km | 74,500 km | 7,500 km |
| C | 74,500 km | 92,000 km | 17,500 km |
| Maxwell Gap | 87,500 km | 87,770 km | 270 km |
| B | 92,000 km | 117,500 km | 25,500 km |
| Cassini Division | 117,500 km | 122,200 km | 4,700 km |
| A | 122,200 | 136,800 | 14,600 |
| Encke Gap | 133,570 km | 133,895 | . |
| Keeler Gap | 136,530 | 136,565 | 35 |
| F | 140,210 | 140,240-140,710 | 30-500 km |
| G | 165,800 | 173,800 | 8,000 |
| E | 180,000 | 480,000 | 300,000 |
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