Why does Saturn have rings?
Saturn's rings are made of lots and lots of ice and rock pieces.
Pip’s answer
- Saturn's rings are made of lots and lots of ice and rock pieces.
- Some are tiny like sand, and some are big like a house!
- Scientists think the rings came from broken moons or icy space rocks long ago.
- Wow-ee, the pieces zoom around Saturn like a giant sparkly hula hoop!
Try it together
Can you swirl your arms around like Saturn's rings?
For grown-ups
Saturn's rings are made of countless pieces of water ice and rock, from dust-sized grains to chunks as big as a house. Scientists think they formed from broken-up moons, comets or other icy bodies. Although the rings are about 280,000 kilometers wide, they are mostly only about 10 meters thick.
Ask your child: What would you name a new planet with rings?
More questions kids ask
- 🔴Why is Mars red?
- 🪐Why is Jupiter so big?
- 🪐Why do planets go around the sun?
- 🌙Why does it get dark at night?
- ⭐Why do stars twinkle?
- 🌓Why does the moon change shape?
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