What are Saturn’s rings made of?

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Hello, and welcome aboard the USS Smarty Pants. Smarty Pants, as you can hear, I’m on a spaceship. Once again, exploring the farthest reaches of our solar system. Today, we’re traveling beyond the asteroid belt en route to the planets known as gas giants.

Seriously, we’re doing that joke again? Yeah, sorry, trusty narrator, won’t happen again. Anywho, Smarty Pants were now about 886 million miles, or 1 .4 billion kilometers away from the sun, fast approaching the furthest planet to be discovered during ancient times without a telescope.

This planet comes right after Jupiter. Smarty Pants, go ahead and shout out its name. Are you shouting Saturn right now? Great. Saturn is one of the most spectacular planets in the solar system, famous for its magnificent rings and music.

Hey check it out a visitor welcome to the party get this man a zucchini

Uh, thanks, Saturn? I didn’t realize you were throwing a party.

Yeah dude, Saturn’s where it’s at. Hold on a second. 3 ,829 ,498, 3 ,829 ,499, 3 ,829 ,500, woo!

you

Uh, what’s that all about?

Oh, I hold the galaxy record for hula hooping. I’m getting close to the 4 million mark 3 million eight hundred twenty nine thousand five hundred and three Three million eight hundred twenty nine thousand five hundred and four.

I just keep going

Really, just 4 million? I thought you’d be well beyond that. You and your rings have been around a long time. Smarty Pants, scientists believe that Saturn formed at the beginning of our solar system some four and a half billion years ago.

But when did it get its rings? Is it A, 500 million years ago, B, 250 million years ago, or C, 100 million years ago?

Oh, don’t say other numbers. Oh great. I lost track of my hulu count Guess I’ll have to start all over again one two three Wait before I get too far

What’s the answer the answer is see Scientists believe that Saturn’s rings are only about 100 million years old and some think they may be as young as 10 million years old That’s a fairly new thing in a galaxy that’s been around for billions of years.

Why?

What can I say? I like rocking new fashion. Of course, I can barely remember a time without my rings. Hey, did you know I’m the only planet besides Earth to have its own emoji and the best day of the week is named after me?

Smarty Pants, can you guess what day is named after Saturn? Yep, I heard a lot of right answers.

It’s Saturday, get these smarty pants some tomatoes. And has anyone given the narrator a cabbage yet?

Habage no So Saturn, what’s it like being the life of the solar system party? It’s pretty

groovy but while I do love to party I’m afraid I’m not the life of anything I’m just a big ball of gas if you’re looking for life you might want to check my moods really

Smarty Pants, could life actually exist on Saturn’s moons? And how about those rings? Where did they come from and how long will they last? It’s time for another whiff of science on.

Who’s smart and who’s smarted? Who’s smart? Is it you? Is it me? Is it science or history? Listen up! Everyone, we make smarting lots of fun on who’s smart

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Three, 24, 25.

Hey, smarty pants, I’m at a far -out party with Saturn who’s hula -hooping with its rings way out here in space!

Hey trusty narrator, has anyone given you a vegetable yet?

one of your moons handed me a cucumber. Thanks. But I gotta ask, what’s with all the vegetables?

Oh, thought you’d never ask. It has to do with my name. You know where the word Saturn comes from?

Hmm, what do you think, smarty pants? Is Saturn, A, the name of the person who discovered the planet, B, a Roman mythological god, or C, another name for yellow, or D, the galaxy’s greatest party animal?

I wish the answer is B

Saturn is named after the ancient god of wealth and agriculture and by agriculture we’re talking about farm

vegetables bro hey can somebody toss the narrator carrot oh and you know what Saturn was also the father of Jupiter really oh yeah me and you were both made a hydrogen and helium gas of course unlike Jupiter I shine like gold as a god of wealth should and you know what else what I can flow dude I’m the only planet in the solar system with an average density less than water so if we had a giant swimming pool I could float in it all day though I’d probably have to give up hula -hooping speaking of which what number am I at 137 thanks Cassie narrator this year is Cassandra Cassini she’s one of my closest friends you

Cassini, as in the Cassini orbiter that launched from Earth in 1997 and spent 13 years exploring Saturn.

Yup, that’s me. I discovered all kinds of cool things about Saturn here.

I’ve heard. But wait, didn’t your mission end in 2017 when scientists plunged you into Saturn’s atmosphere, causing your destruction?

Ah! My destruction!

Just a narrator. Any chance you can ignore that fact, you know, just for the sake of this episode?

Ignore the fact that her plunge gave scientists valuable information about Saturn’s atmosphere and with the spacecraft Vaporized inside of Saturn the planet now contains a little bit of Earth, huh? Sure.

Oh, I’ll ignore all that for now

Yay! I’m alive!

Uh -huh, high five. Oh wait, I don’t have hands just rings

Speaking of your rings, I studied them up close.

Ooh, I want to hear all about him. Hey, smarty pants, true or false? Saturn is the only planet in the solar system with rings. Did you say false? Good job.

Yep, that’s a big, false saloonie. Even my son Jupiter has a ring. And of course, there’s

Here’s Uranus. Hey, you promised.

Oops, sorry, couldn’t help myself, won’t happen again.

planets may have rings, but none has rings quite like Saturn. Saturn’s ring system spans close to 16 million miles, 26 million kilometers. That’s about 67 times the distance from Earth to its moon. And yet, if you look at the rings straight on, you’ll see they’re really thin.

In many spots, the vertical height is only about 30 feet. That’s shorter than the utility pole on your street holding up wires.

That’s super thin, considering that Saturn is big enough to hold over 760 Earths inside of it.

Oh no, more numbers, ugh, I’ve lost count of my looping again. Cassandra, do you know what I’m up to?

Sorry, I stopped counting.

Ugh, oh well, one, two, three.

Huh, I can see how your hula hoop number stays so low. So tell me, Cassini, how did Saturn get its incredible rings?

Scientists aren’t quite sure, but they think they might be pieces of comets, asteroids, or even moons that were ripped apart by Saturn’s powerful gravity. If you take a close look at them, as I have, you’ll see billions of bits of ice and rock!

That’s so cool.

literally you know what’s also cool I’ve got this crazy six -sided storm on my head

smarty pants. What shape has six sides? Is it a pentagon, a hexagon, or an octagon? The answer is hexagon. But aren’t storms normally circular or oval -shaped? I’ve never heard of one with sides before.

There’s actually no other planet in the solar system with a storm like this. Scientists are still trying to figure it out. The rotating storm gets its shape from the surrounding winds streaming by at 200 miles an hour.

More powerful than the worst hurricane winds on Earth. Whoa. The storm also changes color, huh? It’s blue during the winter when the North Pole is in darkness and more golden during the summer.

Speaking of summer, mine lasts about seven earth years. Yeah, my seasons are long because it takes me about 29 earth years to orbit around the sun. My days, though, are short, less than 11 hours. Moving fast keeps my hula hoops going.

Whoo, 120, 121, 122.

Yes! Your rings do move along with your rotation. But those aren’t the only things moving around you. You also have your moons.

Smarty Pants, we all know that Earth only has one moon, but can you guess how many moons Saturn has? Is it A, 24, B, 65, or C, 82? Drumroll please.

I got 82 baby, 82 moves. And uh, uh -oh, we’ve lost count again. One, two, three.

Actually, Saturn has at least 82 moons, more than any other planet in our solar system. Fifty -three of them are confirmed and named, but we know there’s more. Some may even support life, while one looks like the Death Star.

Yikes, that’s not a moon, that’s a space station. More on that right after this quick break. Yikes, that’s not a moon, that’s a space station. Yikes, that’s a space station. More on that right after this quick break.

More on that right after this quick break. More on that right after this quick break. Yikes, that’s a space station. More on that right after this quick break. Yikes, that’s a space station. More on that right after this quick break.

Yikes, that’s a space station. More on that right after this quick break. Yikes, that’s a space station. More on that right after this quick break. Yikes, that’s a space station. More on that right after this quick break.

Yikes, that’s a space station. More on that right after this quick break. Yikes, that’s a space station. Yikes, that’s a space station. More on that right after this quick break. Yikes, that’s a space station.

More on that right after this quick break. Yikes, that’s a space station. More on that right after this quick break. Yikes, that’s a space station. More on that right after this quick break. Yikes, that’s a space station.

More on that right after this quick break. Yikes, that’s a space station. More on that right after this quick break. Yikes, that’s a space station. Yikes, that’s a space station. Yikes, that’s a space station.

Yikes, that’s a space station. Yikes, that’s a space station. More on that right after this quick break. Yikes, that’s a space station. More on that right after this quick break. Yikes, that’s a space station.

More on that right after this quick break. Go to squarespace .com for a free trial. And when you’re ready to launch, go to squarespace .com backslash smarted to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

Trust me, it’s a game changer. Now back to Who Smarted. Hey, smarty pants. I’m here with a hula hoopin’ Saturn and the NASA space probe Cassini, which studied Saturn for 13 years before plunging into Saturn’s high pressure atmosphere and destroying herself.

Promise not to mention that. Oh, you’re right. My bad.

Where were we? We were talking about Saturn’s 82 moons, including one that looks like.

the Death Star from Star Wars. Whoa, that moon really does look like the Death Star. Are you sure it isn’t?

very. The name of that moon is Mimas, and it’s a small moon made of ice that’s covered in craters, including a large one that takes up a third of its face, giving it a Death Star -like appearance. If you Google search Mimas, that’s M -I -M -A -S after this episode, you’ll see for yourself.

But don’t worry, we’ve known about Mimas for more than 230 years, and it hasn’t destroyed any planets.

…yet. Haha.

Yeah, I think I’ll keep an eye on it, just in case.

Well, Earth scientists are definitely keeping an eye on two of Saturn’s other moons, Enceladus and Titan.

Oh yeah?

Why is that because these moons have the potential for life

life, as in aliens and UFOs?

Probably not. More than likely, the life forms would be microscopic. Both moons do have one thing that makes life a possibility. It covers most of the Earth’s surface.

Smarty pants, what is it? Did you say water?

Yep, Enceladus actually sprays salt water out from underneath its icy shell. It’s the only place in our solar system besides Earth where we could easily access an ocean.

But you said Titan has water too. Yes.

But it’s believed to be way deep down under its surface. However, Titan does have rain, lakes, and rivers. They’re just all made with liquid methane and ethane, which would produce life that’s very different than life on Earth.

Titan is also the only moon with a thick atmosphere like Earth’s. Scientists certainly want to know more about this unusual moon, and NASA plans to send another probe there. It should arrive at Titan in 2034.

and I’ll be waiting, and hula hooping away with my rings.

Just be sure to enjoy it while you can!

What do you mean by that?

Your gravity is pulling your rings into your atmosphere, causing what scientists call ring -rain. They think your rings could be gone in less than a hundred million years. What?

Then I’ll just be a gassy yellow ball.

Oh, okay. That’s the last straw sound guy. Hey that was

Sorry, I’ve been eating too much cabbage. Oh wait, I lost count again. One, two, three.

A double shout out to Smarty fans, Kalena and Kanayo in California. Thanks for listening to Who Smarted. We’re so happy to teach you interesting new things. Also, I hear Kanayo loves making remixes of our theme song.

That’s so cool. We’d love to hear them. You can email them to me at whosmarted at whosmarted .com. Thanks again, you two. This episode, Saturn, was written by Dave Baudry and voiced by Teya Garland, Maydell Clarisse, Adam Tex -Davis and Jerry Kolber.

Technical direction and sound design by Josh Han. Who Smarted is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios. Our associate producer is Max Kamaski. The theme song is by Brian Suarez with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex -Davis.

Who Smarted was created and produced by Adam Tex -Davis and Jerry Kolber. This has been an atomic entertainment production.

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