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World|science|October 5, 2018 / 10:45 AM
Rain falls from Saturn's rings—and dying spacecraft tasted it

AKIPRESS.COM - It’s raining on Saturn. Each second, the planet’s rings shed perhaps thousands of pounds of water ice, organic molecules, and other tiny particles into the gas giant’s clouds, National Geographic reports.

Now, scientists are finally getting a good look at the startlingly complex interaction between Saturn and its rings—thanks to NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which sailed 22 times between the rings and the planet during its last weeks of life, gobbling up ring-rain as it went.

Understanding that complexity is not just an esoteric endeavor. It’s a step toward solving one of the most abiding mysteries of the Saturn system: the origin and age of the solar system’s most famous bangles. Knowing the rings’ composition and the rate at which they’re shedding particles is crucial for uncovering clues about the planet’s history.

“Are we just lucky enough to be in the period of time when Saturn has these magnificent rings?” asks Sean Hsu of the University of Colorado Boulder. “It’s also fascinating to think that if a massive ring could form recently, that has implications for the other icy moons of Saturn.”

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