Saturn's rings will 'disappear' in 2025 as huge shift takes place, NASA confirms

07 November 2023 , 08:44

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Saturn's rings are disappearing from view, NASA scientists say (Image: NASA)

Saturn's rings will become invisible from Earth in only two years' time, according to NASA.

Scientists from the US space agency have said that the massive rings, which are 175,000 miles wide, will disappear from vision thanks to a 'equinox' event. Despite their massive span, the rings of Saturn are only over half a mile thick - meaning we cannot see them when the planet 'tilts' in its alignment with Earth. Saturn has seven distinct rings, which are made up of ice, rocky debris, and dust. They can only be seen from Earth for a few years at time before vanishing from perspective.

The rings of Saturn are thousands of miles wide but only half a mile thick (NASA/AFP via Getty Images)

Thankfully, the rings will tilt back towards Earth in the next phase of Saturn's 29-year orbit, making them visible once again. But Saturn's rings, which are thought have formed around the time the dinosaurs were on Earth, may be gone forever in around 300 million years thanks to a process of erosion.

Dr James O’Donoghue, a former NASA scientist said in April: "We’re still trying to figure out exactly how fast they are eroding. Currently, research suggests the rings will only be part of Saturn for another few hundred million years. This may sound like a long time, but in the history of the universe this is a relatively quick death." He continued: "We could be very lucky to be around at a time when the rings exist."

Saturn, a 'gas giant' planet like Jupiter, is the sixth-furthest from the sun in our Solar System. It is about 886 million miles from the sun, and about 793 million miles from Earth. It is also about nine-and-a-half times bigger than Earth.

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