Are Saturn's rings actually young?

Aurélien Crida (1, 2) , Sébastien Charnoz (3) , Hsiang-Wen Hsu , Luke Dones

1 LAGRANGE - Joseph Louis LAGRANGE
2 IUF - Institut universitaire de France
3 IPGP - Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris

Spectacular results from Cassini's Grand Finale have provided constraints on the characteristics and evolutionary processes of Saturn's rings. These results have been interpreted as proof that the rings are much younger than the Solar System, dramatically changing our view of the origin of the whole Saturnian system and attracting the attention of scientific media outlets. But we should keep in mind that the age of the rings has not actually been measured (which is impossible per se) but rather is inferred. Here, we put these latest results into perspective and we point out that the young-rings hypothesis has some unsolved problems. Other interpretations, compatible with rings as old as the Solar System, are still possible.

Domaines: Planète et Univers [physics]

Aurélien Crida, Sébastien Charnoz, Hsiang-Wen Hsu, Luke Dones. Are Saturn's rings actually young?. Nature Astronomy, 2019, 3, pp.967-970. ⟨10.1038/s41550-019-0876-y⟩. ⟨insu-03586613⟩