Saturn is not the only object in the Solar System with band . The other accelerator pedal giants , as well as a few asteroids , have ring too , although they ’re certainly not quite as pretentious . Uranus has rings that are very difficult to see as they reflect very little light . For this reason , research worker recently used a different approach to contemplate them and were able-bodied to mensurate their temperature for the first time .
In apaperaccepted for issue inThe Astronomical Journal , researchers discuss observation conducted with the Atacama Large Millimeter / submillimeter Array ( ALMA ) and the Very Large Telescope ( VLT ) to estimate that the main rings are at a scary -196.15 ° C ( -321.07 ° F ) , just about the boiling point of nitrogen .
The cogitation show how unlike these rings are from any others in the Solar System . In special , the epsilon pack , the densest and brightest in the Uranian system , is unlike any other we have analyze so far .
“ The annulus of Uranus are compositionally dissimilar from Saturn ’s main anchor ring , in the sense that in optical and infrared , the albedo is much lower : they are really dismal , like fusain , ” hint writer Edward Molter , from the University of California , Berkeley , said in astatement . “ They are also extremely minute compared to the pack of Saturn . The wide , the epsilon ring , vary from 20 to 100 kilometers [ 12 - 62 miles ] astray , whereas Saturn ’s are hundreds or ten of thousands of kilometers wide-cut . ”
But it is also the size of the particles that make up the pack . Ouranos ' particles do n’t show the same variation as the particles present in Saturn ’s tintinnabulation . Most of the minor particles have either been swing out aside or are clumped up in the structures seen in the notice .
“ Saturn ’s primarily icy anchor ring are broad , shiny and have a range of particle sizes , from micron - sized rubble in the innermost 500 ring , to tens of meters in size in the main rings , ” said Imke de Pater , a UC Berkeley professor of astronomy . “ The small end is missing in the primary rings of Uranus ; the shiny ring , epsilon , is composed of golf game chunk - sized and enceinte rock . ”
While several whodunit endure , these observance will help researchers to model possible origin scenarios for the ring . Currently , we do n’t recognise if they are the remains of an asteroid get by the planet , remainder of moons that crashed into each other or were put down by Uranus , or even just debris from the very beginning of the Solar System .
