Earth had rings like Saturn 46.6 crore years ago scientists found evidence

Among all the planets present in our solar system, Saturn stands out the most. What makes Saturn special are the rings present around it. Scientists think that something similar might have happened on Earth once upon a time. reports According to a paper published last week in Earth and Planetary Science Letters published It has happened. In it, scientists have presented evidence that a ring existed on Earth too. Although millions of years have passed since then. Scientists believe that the ring around the Earth was formed about 466 million years ago. It existed for a few crore years.

Before moving on to the news, one should understand how rings are made. According to the report, when a small body like an asteroid passes near a bigger body i.e. a planet, it gets pulled by the planet due to gravity. After coming close enough it breaks into small pieces. Similarly, pieces of asteroids turn into rings of debris around the planet.

With time, this debris falls on the planet, due to which craters are formed. Scientists believe that about 466 million years ago many asteroids collided with our planet. Because of that many craters were formed on Earth.

Saturn 46.6 crore years ago scientists found evidence

The special thing is that only Saturn does not have rings. Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus are also believed to have rings, which are not very clear. Scientists also think that small moons of Mars like Phobos and Deimos may be part of one of its old rings.

Scientists believe that the ring present on Earth must have been around its equator. This is because 21 such craters have been discovered on Earth, which were formed due to the collision of asteroids. All of these are on continents that were close to the equator 466 million years ago.

However, scientists still have a lot of work to do on this study. It is also to be found out that 466 million years ago the Earth had become very cold. This ring present on Earth was responsible for that cold. Scientists now want to prepare such mathematical models which will explain the breakdown and expansion of asteroids. This will reveal how much cooling can occur on a planet due to a ring.