{"id":127373,"date":"2024-11-18T19:59:52","date_gmt":"2024-11-18T12:59:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=127373"},"modified":"2024-11-18T19:59:52","modified_gmt":"2024-11-18T12:59:52","slug":"earth-may-have-had-a-saturn-like-ring-over-400-million-years-ago-scientists-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=127373","title":{"rendered":"Earth may have had a Saturn-like ring over 400 million years ago, scientists say"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-editable=\"content\" itemprop=\"articleBody\" data-reorderable=\"content\">\n<p data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/editor-note\/instances\/cm3hk4jse000v3b5v4xq92o33@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"editor-note\" class=\"editor-note vossi-editor-note inline-placeholder \" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n    <em>Sign up for CNN\u2019s Wonder Theory science newsletter.\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/newsletters\/wonder-theory?source=nl-acq_article\"><em>Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more<\/em><\/a>.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n    <cite class=\"source__cite\"><br \/>\n      <span class=\"source__location\" data-editable=\"location\"\/><br \/>\n      <span class=\"source__text\" data-editable=\"source\">CNN<\/span><br \/>\n        \u00a0\u2014\u00a0<br \/>\n    <\/cite>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm3hk2ux9001o2cp9eamvhjls@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Famously known for its extensive ring system, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2023\/05\/24\/world\/saturn-rings-disappearing-scn\/index.html\">Saturn<\/a> is one of four planets in our solar system that have the distinctive feature. And now, scientists hypothesize that Earth may have sported its own ring some 466 million years ago.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm3hk4aj100033b5vr01jp8dj@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            During the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/science\/Ordovician-Period\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ordovician Period<\/a>, a time of significant changes for Earth\u2019s life-forms, plate tectonics and climate, the planet experienced a peak in meteorite strikes. Nearly two dozen impact craters known to occur during this time were all within 30 degrees of Earth\u2019s equator, signaling that the meteoroids may have rained down from a rocky ring around the planet, according to a study published September 12 in the journal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0012821X24004230?via%3Dihub\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Earth and Planetary Science Letters<\/a>.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm3hk4aj100043b5v49nhbe1h@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cIt\u2019s statistically unusual that you would get 21 craters all relatively close to the equator. It shouldn\u2019t happen. They should be randomly distributed,\u201d said lead author Andrew Tomkins, a geologist and professor of Earth and planetary sciences at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm3hk4aj100053b5vef1f1n4c@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Not only does the new hypothesis shed light on the origins of the spike in meteorite impacts, but it also may provide an answer to a previously unexplained event: A global deep freeze, one of the coldest climate events in Earth\u2019s history, may have been a result of the ring\u2019s shadow.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm3hk4aj100063b5vvc9lw6a9@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Scientists are hoping to find out more about the possible ring. It could help answer the mysteries of Earth\u2019s history as well as pose new questions about the influence an ancient ring could have had on evolutionary development, Tomkins said.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm3hk4aj100073b5vew77flhw@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            When a smaller object gets close enough to a planet, it reaches what\u2019s known as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/science\/Roche-limit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Roche limit<\/a>, the distance where the celestial body has enough gravitational pull to break apart the approaching body. The resulting debris then creates rings around the planet, such as those around Saturn that may have been formed by debris from icy moons, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/solar-system\/new-simulations-shed-light-on-origins-of-saturns-rings-and-icy-moons\/#:~:text=According%20to%20new%20research%20by,of%20Saturn's%20present%2Dday%20moons.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according to NASA<\/a>.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm3hk4aj100083b5vvcj69lht@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Scientists previously believed that a large asteroid broke apart within the solar system, creating the meteorites that hit Earth during the Ordovician Period. However, such an impact would have likely caused the strikes to be more randomly distributed, such as the randomization of the craters on the moon, Tomkins said.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm3hk4aj100093b5v9m4sop0q@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The study authors hypothesize that a large asteroid, estimated to be about 7.5 miles (12 kilometers) in diameter, instead reached Earth\u2019s Roche limit, which might have been about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/figure\/A-Trajectory-of-Hayabusa-spacecraft-to-Itokawa-The-view-is-looking-down-on-the_fig3_7042075#:~:text=Citations-,...,shape%20and%20internal%20cohesion%20properties).\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">9,800 miles (15,800 kilometers)<\/a> from the planet based on the measurements of past rubble-pile asteroids. The asteroid would have been largely beat up from other collisions, making rubble loose and easy to pull apart by Earth\u2019s tidal force, Tomkins said.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm3hk4aj1000a3b5v7y8hy73y@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The ring would have formed along the equator due to Earth\u2019s equatorial bulge, similar to how the rings of Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune are also around each of those planets\u2019 equatorial planes, he added.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm3hk4aj1000b3b5vp9y63zwj@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            About 200 impact strikes from throughout Earth\u2019s history are known, Tomkins said. By looking at how Earth\u2019s landmasses moved over time, the authors found that the 21 known craters dated to the Ordovician Period were all near the equator. Furthermore, only 30% of Earth\u2019s land surface suitable for preserving a crater was near the equator. If the impacts were random instead of from a ring, most of the craters should have formed away from the equator, he added.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm3hk4aj1000c3b5vw3h4e3av@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The authors also point to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0012821X2100618X\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a February 2022 study<\/a> that analyzed impact craters on Earth, the moon and Mars, and found signs for the Ordovician impact spike only on Earth, further adding evidence that aligns with the ring theory.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm3hk4aj1000d3b5v3p9n4hnx@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cThe paper presents a pleasing idea that ties together a few mysteries,\u201d said astrophysicist Vincent Eke, an associate professor in the Institute for Computational Cosmology at the UK\u2019s Durham University who was not involved with the new study.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm3hk4aj1000e3b5v85b36yy9@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The research analysis found several deposits across Earth from the same period as the impact craters containing high levels of L chondrite, a common meteorite material, that had signs of shorter space radiation exposure than meteorites found today. The finding suggests that<strong> <\/strong>a large, space-weathered<strong> <\/strong>asteroid that likely strayed within Earth\u2019s Roche limit broke up near the planet, the study authors wrote.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm3hk4aj1000f3b5v2uum2eov@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            A few million years following the period of increased meteor strikes, about 445 million years ago, there was a dramatic decrease in Earth\u2019s global temperatures known as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/science\/Hirnantian-Age\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hirnantian Age<\/a>.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm3hk4aj1000g3b5vd9h7y5kq@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cThe subsequent debris from such an event (a potential ring) could account for these three observations,\u201d Eke said in an email, referring to the impact craters, meteorite debris and global climate shift.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm3hk4aj1000h3b5vlispdcz3@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The study authors are researching what extent of shade would be needed to cause a deep global freeze, a finding that in turn could help estimate how opaque the ring was, Tomkins said. Similarly, Earth could have been cooled by clouds of dust from the meteorite impacts, he added.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm3hk4aj1000i3b5v8oklzfqk@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Tomkins said he hopes future research will establish how long the ring persisted and shed light on how it could have influenced the evolutionary changes that Earth faced most likely due to challenging climatic conditions. \u201cUnderstanding the causes of Earth\u2019s climate change can help us think about (the) evolution of life as well,\u201d he added.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm3hk4aj1000j3b5vttpmmtph@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            It\u2019s difficult to say what such a ring would have looked like without knowing the density of the material, but Tomkins estimates that even a faint ring would have been visible from Earth.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm3hk4aj1000k3b5vvz834n6u@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cIf you were on the night side of the Earth looking up, and the sunlight is shining on the rings, but not on you, that would make it probably quite interestingly visible \u2014 it would be quite spectacular,\u201d he said.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm3hk4aj2000l3b5v8ycqlpqc@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Based on the duration of the global cooling period and the dating of the craters and meteorite material, Earth\u2019s possible ring could have lasted 20 million to 40 million years, Tomkins said. Collisions between other particles would have caused space rocks to be thrown out of the ring.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm3hk4aj2000m3b5vail8uib0@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            <a href=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/space\/did-ancient-mars-have-rings-deimos\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Previous research<\/a> found that ancient Mars might have also sported a ring, or rings, and scientists predict that planet may one day have <a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mars\/facts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">more in the future<\/a>.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm3hk4aj2000n3b5vvboaej54@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cWhile rings are associated with the outer, giant planets in the solar system at the present time, in the next 100 million years or so, Mars should acquire a ring system when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2024\/10\/31\/science\/mars-phobos-eclipse-googly-eye\/index.html\">its inner moon, Phobos<\/a>, spirals inside the rigid Roche radius and is itself torn apart,\u201d Eke said in an email. \u201cThankfully, for the development of life on Earth, these types of (events) are rare at the current time!\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm3hk4aj2000o3b5vay1pk08y@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Since late September, an asteroid named 2024 PT5 has been traveling near Earth. The space rock is commonly referred to as a \u201cmini-moon\u201d due to it coming within 2.8 million miles (4.5 million kilometers) of the planet. However, even during the asteroid\u2019s closest pass to date on August 8 at about 352,300 miles (567,000 kilometers), it was nowhere near Earth\u2019s Roche limit, said Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, a researcher on the faculty of mathematical sciences at the Complutense University of Madrid who has studied the mini-moon. De la Fuente Marcos was not involved in the new study.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm3hk4aj2000p3b5vjqgw9hhj@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Also, the suggested Earth ring would have \u201chad to be the result of the disruption of a much larger body as the authors indicate in their paper,\u201d he added in an email, so the asteroid, likely about 37 feet (11 meters) in diameter, could not have made a new ring for Earth.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm3hk4aj2000q3b5vmo1bvwz6@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cYou\u2019d need to capture a big one and get it into exactly the right orbit to break up. \u2026 (This mini-moon) is just an example of the processes that go on in our near space area that can lead to the sort of thing we\u2019re talking about,\u201d Tomkins said. However, \u201cthis ring formation event we think may have happened only once in the last 500 million years.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2024\/11\/18\/science\/earth-saturn-ring-asteroid-study\/index.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sign up for CNN\u2019s Wonder Theory science newsletter.\u00a0Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. CNN \u00a0\u2014\u00a0 Famously known for its extensive ring system, Saturn is &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=127373\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8628],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=127373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127373\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=127373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=127373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=127373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}