[FUBAR-BDHR]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/10/07/space.saturn.ring/index.html

That thing is huge.  How the heck did they miss it all this time? 

Time to start updating those Saturn skyboxes. 

[Colonol Dekker]

Maybe we have one as well and the galactic rim is all an illusion

[Narvi]

I suspect that image is not how the ring looks like all the time.

[FUBAR-BDHR]

I think that is a thermal image showing the heat reflecting not the actual ring. 

[Pred the Penguin]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/10/07/space.saturn.ring/index.html

That thing is huge.  How the heck did they miss it all this time? 

Time to start updating those Saturn skyboxes. 

Maybe cause it's extremely far away...

[headdie]

just think how large the planets gravity well must be to hold a ring like that

[Liberator]

Well considering that the composition of the ring is so thin that you can't see it with the naked eye i would imagine that that is on the very edge of the well.  Begs the question, what is so special about Saturn that it has these massive ring systems and the other planets in the system have very minimal ring systems at all(if any).

[Ghostavo]

Its location and size (gravity well to be exact).

[jdjtcagle]

Following on Liberators thought, did we check for a ring system like this on Jupiter?  Surely there's ice and dust around that area as well?

[Mr. Vega]

That's not a ring. It's a dust cloud.

[newman]

Time to start updating those Saturn skyboxes. 

I wouldn't bother, the thing is nearly invisible

[jdjtcagle]

Also it's interesting that the big "dust ring" is at a 27 degree angle from the main rings. I wonder if X shaped rings are possible

http://jdjtcagle.deviantart.com/art/Lovely-Red-13281037

[Bobboau]

Following on Liberators thought, did we check for a ring system like this on Jupiter?  Surely there's ice and dust around that area as well?

yes, and it does, well, not quite like this but it has rings.

[Liberator]

Further consideration of the matter leads me to believe that Saturn's ring system is directly related to the number and placement of the planets enormous number of minor moons.  Additionally, Jupiter's status of effectively a brown dwarf reminds us that the amount of energy being poured out by that body would prevent any serious collection of ice crystals to form inside the limit that must be required for rings to form gravitationally.  Jupiter does have a small ring system but as memory serves it's composed of dust particles and moonstuff with very little if any ice.

[The E]

Additionally, Jupiter's status of effectively a brown dwarf reminds us that the amount of energy being poured out by that body would prevent any serious collection of ice crystals to form inside the limit that must be required for rings to form gravitationally. 

  Jupiter's a gas giant. Nothing more, nothing less. Brown dwarfs While technically, the line between gas giants and brown dwarfs is somewhat blurry, the International Astronomical Union considers objects with masses above the limiting mass for thermonuclear fusion of deuterium (currently calculated to be 13 Jupiter masses for objects of solar metallicity) to be a brown dwarf, whereas those objects under that mass (and orbiting stars or stellar remnants) are considered planets.
 

[Liberator]

Ok, so it's not a brown dwarf.   Regardless, it puts out far more energy than it receives from solar input, so the hypothesis remains more or less sound.  Jupiter likely doesn't have a ring system of any complexity because of amount of energy output preventing ice crystals from collecting at an altitude where rings can form and lack of shepherd satellites in those same altitudes to organize and form the rings.

[watsisname]

Ok, so it's not a brown dwarf.   Regardless, it puts out far more energy than it receives from solar input, so the hypothesis remains more or less sound.  Jupiter likely doesn't have a ring system of any complexity because of amount of energy output preventing ice crystals from collecting at an altitude where rings can form and lack of shepherd satellites in those same altitudes to organize and form the rings.

I doooon't think that's how it works.  The ring system for Jupiter isn't very complex because of a lack of a huge amount of icy source material being shed to produce and maintain a vibrant ring system, plus there's a huge amount of radiation which whittles away fine particulate matter as well.

That said, Jupiter's ring system (while certainly not as complex as Saturn's) isn't exactly mediocre.  You'll notice that there are moons associated with all of them as well.


Edit:  I notice you mention ice over dust, which begs me to ask where the ice particles would be coming from in the first place?  All of Jupiter's inner moons are dusty/rocky instead of icy.  Europa would be the best option, and orbital resonance with the other Galilean moons would prevent a ring from forming there.  So it's not that heat is being given off by Jupiter to prevent ice from accumulating, it's that there's no ice there to begin with.

[Colonol Dekker]

Internet astro science ring-off! Wheeeeeeeeeeee.

* Colonol Dekker grabs popcorn and giant foam hand.

[General Battuta]

Ok, so it's not a brown dwarf.   Regardless, it puts out far more energy than it receives from solar input, so the hypothesis remains more or less sound.  Jupiter likely doesn't have a ring system of any complexity because of amount of energy output preventing ice crystals from collecting at an altitude where rings can form and lack of shepherd satellites in those same altitudes to organize and form the rings.

I dunno, I'm not gonna jump all over Liberator here. He might have a few points. I'm wondering about the 'putting out far more energy than it receives' thing. I know that Jupiter has a killer electromagnetic field, but past that, would it really put out energy?

That's a genuine question, so I've got to do some research.

[jdjtcagle]

Ok, so it's not a brown dwarf.   Regardless, it puts out far more energy than it receives from solar input, so the hypothesis remains more or less sound.  Jupiter likely doesn't have a ring system of any complexity because of amount of energy output preventing ice crystals from collecting at an altitude where rings can form and lack of shepherd satellites in those same altitudes to organize and form the rings.

I dunno, I'm not gonna jump all over Liberator here. He might have a few points. I'm wondering about the 'putting out far more energy than it receives' thing. I know that Jupiter has a killer electromagnetic field, but past that, would it really put out energy?

That's a genuine question, so I've got to do some research.

*  Asks Dekker to pass the butter