Saturn is well known for its rings, but fewer people know that the other gas giants have rings as well. They are less spectacular and not visible with amateur telescopes. They were only discovered in the last decades of the twentieth century. Many of the mechanisms behind some of the ring’s properties still remain under debate. Planetary rings have always been incidental discoveries. They have fascinated and mystified for as long as we have known about them.
Jupiter
In 1979 the space probe Voyager 1 discovered the rings around Jupiter. Technically they are visible from Earth with the strongest telescopes, but they are faint and were therefore overlooked so far. The main ring is flat and about 7.000 kilometres (4.350 miles) wide and less then 30 kilometres (18 miles) thick. It is the brightest component of the ring system. Outside it lay
In 1979 the space probe Voyager 1 discovered the rings around Jupiter. Technically they are visible from Earth with the strongest telescopes, but they are faint and were therefore overlooked so far. The main ring is flat and about 7.000 kilometres (4.350 miles) wide and less then 30 kilometres (18 miles) thick. It is the brightest component of the ring system. Outside it lay
