Ring Structure
Here you can see a much more detailed picture of the structure of
the rings, and the positions of some of the moons in relation to the
rings. The two rings that are the brightest, and the ones that
would be seen through a telescope if you pointed it at Saturn, are
the B and the A rings. In between them is the Cassisni Division,
which is the largest gap in the main rings. A smaller gap is
located in the A-ring, and has been named the Encke Division.
The C-ring can be made out as a darker ring that is just inside the
B-ring. Closer than that, and barely visible, is the D ring. It is
the closest ring to the planet, and the faintest. The F-ring is
visible just outside the A-ring, and farther than this, the G-ring
and finally the E-ring are barely visible.
Space probes have shown that the large rings like the A, B and C
rings are actually made up of a series of smaller ringlets, giving
the rings a highly structured appearence. Voyager also discovered
the presence of wave patterns in the rings. Here are some statistics
on the locations and rotational periods of the rings:
| Name |
Distance From Saturn (km) |
|
Orbital Period (hr) |
|---|
| | | | |
| D-Ring |
67,000 |
|
4.9 |
| C-Ring |
73,200 |
|
5.6 |
| B-Ring |
92,200 |
|
7.9 |
| Cassini Division |
119,000 |
|
11.7 |
| A-Ring |
121,000 |
|
11.9 |
| Keeler (Encke) Gap |
133,500 |
|
13.8 |
| F-Ring |
140,600 |
|
14.9 |
| G-Ring |
170,000 |
|
19.9 |
| E-Ring |
230,000 |
|
31.3 |
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