The event, called the Saturnian equinox, occurs once about every 15 years when the planet’s angle of tilt reaches zero degrees. This means the edge of the rings will be facing us.
Try to imagine Saturn without its signature rings. Now picture two large icy moons shifting closer together little by little until — boom. Chaos. What was solid is now fluid. Diamantine shards scatter into the darkness. Many icy fragments tumble close to Saturn, remain there and dance around the gas giant in unison, ultimately forging the heavyweight body’s exquisite discs. This spectacular scene comes from an attempt to answer one of the greatest mysteries of the solar system: Where did Saturn’
Saturn is a visual marvel in our solar system, but how did it get those awe-inspiring rings? A new series of NASA supercomputer simulations might have the answer.