Science Experiment

Name of Student

Name of Professor

Name of Class

Day Month Year

Science Experiment

Introduction Saturn is the second largest planet of our solar system and 6th planet from the sun. Because of its exceptional appearance, it is considered as a jewel of our solar system. It has caught the attention of stargazers since centuries. It has magnetizing and captivating appearance because of the reflection of different colors from different angles. The reason behind its bright, vibrant and different colors’ reflection is the presence of various elements inside the rings of the planet and in the planet body itself. Just like Uranus and Jupiter, this planets has rings too but the size of these rings makes Saturn a unique exception. These rings house numerous particles that range from the size of little grain to huge mountains. These particles of different sizes are composed of dust, ice and rocks that are collected from the passing comets (Hamilton). These rings are spread to almost 482,000 km distance from the center of the planet and have almost one kilometer thickness. These rings show different colors from different angles because of the presence of different elements and compounds. Galileo was the first one to observe the rings of this planet and to propose theories about it. Depending upon the span from the center of Saturn, its rings are categorized alphabetically. The ring that is closest to the planet is referred as D, and A is the farthest ring from Saturn. There is a gap which separates A and B rings of Saturn which is called Cassini division ("Cassini's Month-By-Month Galleryof Saturn's Ring System"). These rings have many structures, particles and gaps. Moreover, presence of faint rings have also been revealed by the research and they are categorized as F and E rings. There are many gaps present between the particles of the rings. Some are created by the satellites of the planet and some are still the piece of puzzle for the astronomers.

There are various hypothesis that explain how these rings have been formed in Saturn. The most debatable one is that the rings of the planet were massive moons before. They kept revolving around the planet until they crashed with each other and collide.For years, it was thought by many astronomers in the past that these captivating rings are the solid structures around the planet. Until now it has been researched that these are not solid structures but these rings are formed when particles of different densities and sizes in different gaps and structure spin around the planet because of the gravitational pull of the planet.

In year of 1655 Christaan Huygens proposed that these unique looking rings are solid bodies. Also in the year of 1660 one more astronomer proposed that these rings are actually created by small satellites, his proposal wasn’t confirmed for almost 200 years. After that in advanced times, Pioneer 11 was passed through the ring plane of Saturn in the year of 1979. Moreover, in the years of 1980s Saturn’s ring system were captured by Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. It was then declined with research that the presence of particles of different densities and sizes in different gaps and structure that are in spinning motion because of the gravitational pull of the planet is forming the unique rings around the planet.

The experiment that I choose for assignment is to describe that rings are composed of the particles of different sizes, structures and densities. The procedure that I will use, it will illuminate that rings are not a round mass around the planet. But they contain different particles that appear as a ring when they are in a spinning motion because of the gravitational pull of the planet. Materials I will choose a simple method for my experiment with readily available materials. It can be performed at home too as it accessible materials. My experiment will require:

Spin Machine

Glue

White paper

Colored Chart

Scissor

Pencil

Sand

Sugar

Table Salt

Crushed Nuts

Method Cut a circle of colored chart with scissors. Then paste that circle in the middle of white paper with glue. This colored circle will represent Saturn. Draw four rings around the circle of colored chart. After that spread glue on the circles that are drawn by pencil. On the other hand, take sugar, table salt, sand and crushed nuts and mix them up. Next step will be to sprinkle the mixture on the gluey circles. It will be clearly observed that particles of different densities and sizes are scattered in the circles around the colored chart. Now, set the whole apparatus on the spinning machine and observe. When the whole apparatus will be spinning, it will be observed that the scattered materials of different densities and sized are appearing as fine round rings around the circle.

Results This experiment proves that rings around the planet are not a round mass but they appear to be that way because of the presence of different particles that are in different gaps, sizes, densities, and structures in a continuous spinning motion because of the gravitational pull of planet. However, the particles in those rings are expected to be water, ice, ice-bergs scattered pieces of comets or may be scattered pieces of colliding moons etc. in different ratios, structure and sizes etc. (Astronomy). Also, many of these particles face gravitational pull of different satellites that revolve around this planet, mainly its 62 moons. The above picture is captured by NASA which shows the presence of icy objects. Moreover it can be proved by easy and different other methods too that rings are composed of the particles of different sizes, structures and densities. They are not a round mass around the planet and they contain different particles that appear as a ring when they are in a spinning motion because of the gravitational pull of the planet.

Works Cited

Space.com. N.p., 2019. Web. 5 Jan. 2019.ton, Calvin. "Saturn." Solarviews.com. N.p., 2019. Web. 5 Jan. 2019.

"Cassini's Month-By-Month Galleryof Saturn's Ring System." Pds-rings.seti.org. N.p., 2019. Web. 5 Jan. 2019.

Hamil Astronomy, Science. "Saturn's Rings: Composition, Characteristics & Creation."