Earth Once Had Giant Rings Like Saturn, This Is The Researcher's Explanation

Earth is believed to have had a giant ring like the planet Saturn 466 million years ago. (The Daily Galaxy / DOK)

JAKARTA - Who would have thought, 466 million years ago Earth was believed to have had a giant ring like the planet Saturn. This claim is based on research published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, quoted Sunday, November 24.

The ring, according to research, formed from the rubble of a large asteroid destroyed by Earth's gravitational drag. This event is believed to have occurred after the asteroid suffered damage from another collision before.

"The asteroid is most likely already damaged by previous collisions, making it easier to destroy due to the ups and downs of the Earth," explained Andrew Tomkins, geologist and professor of Earth and planet science at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.

The resulting debris then forms a ring around Earth, similar to Saturn's ring consisting of icy moon debris.

The researchers also revealed that this ring may have formed along the Earth's equator due to equatorial swelling, a mechanism that also explains how the rings of Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune formed along the equatorial planes of their respective planets.

This research provides new insight into the history of our solar system and shows that Earth has experienced a phenomenon that is now only seen in gas giant planets in the solar system.