Photo: "Pinball" Collisions Seen in Saturn Ring

Email to a Friend << Back to Full Story


These two images, taken about eight minutes apart on December 23, 2006, show objects breaking off Saturn's active F ring into dusty clumps.

Boulder-size chunks of material within the bizarre ring called moonlets may collide with other large ring particles on a near-daily basis like a game of pinball, the images suggest.

NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

MOST VIEWED NEWS

PICTURES: 2012 Doomsday Myths Debunked

2012: Six End-of-the-World Myths Debunked

APOCALYPSE PICTURES: 10 Failed Doomsday Prophecies
NEWS FEEDS    After installing a news reader, click on this icon to download National Geographic News's XML/RSS feed. After installing a news reader, click on this icon to download National Geographic News's XML/RSS feed.

Get our news delivered directly to your desktop—free.
How to Use XML or RSS

ADVERTISEMENT

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC'S PHOTO OF THE DAY

Today's National Geographic Photo of the Day

• Today's Photo

• Download as Wallpaper

50 Drives of a Lifetime

National Geographic Traveler has scoured the globe for the world's most beautiful, interesting, and off-beat road trips. Dive in to get drive directions, quizzes, photos, and more.