Saturn's Rings May Be Very Old

Saturn's Rings May Be Very Old 125

Posted by CmdrTaco on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @04:23PM from the even-older-than-bob dept.

Kristina from Science News writes "Combining computer simulations with data about the way starlight shines through Saturn's rings suggests the individual grains are big and thus could have been around a good 4 billion years, not the mere 10 million to 100 million previously suspected. What may have thrown earlier observations off is the chance that the grains aren't evenly distributed, but clump here and spread out there."

Saturn's Rings May Be Very Old

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That's not too surprising (Score:4, Funny)

by moderatorrater ( 1095745 ) writes: on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @04:25PM (#25126665)

Saturn was more faithful than Zeus in the mythology, it makes sense that it would have had its ring for a while.

Uranus! (Score:3, Funny)

by orkim ( 238312 ) writes: on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @04:29PM (#25126757)

Uranus jokes in: 3, 2, 1...

Re:That's not too surprising (Score:3, Funny)

by Plutonite ( 999141 ) writes: on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @04:30PM (#25126779)

In any case, we now know Saturn's rings were there a good couple of years before the republican candidate, at least.

Re:Uranus! (Score:5, Funny)

by jollyreaper ( 513215 ) writes: on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @04:31PM (#25126801)

I'm not concerned about rings around Saturn, far more worrisome are the rings around Uranus.

Re:Uranus! (Score:5, Funny)

by Bill, Shooter of Bul ( 629286 ) writes: on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @04:32PM (#25126817) Journal

Don't be ridiculous, scientists finally changed the name to end that stupid joke, once and for all.

Re:That's not too surprising (Score:3, Funny)

by megamerican ( 1073936 ) writes: on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @04:32PM (#25126823)

Saturn was more faithful than Zeus in the mythology, it makes sense that it would have had its ring for a while.
To be fair, it is easy to be faithful when you have 1000's [answers.com] of wives.

Re:That's not too surprising (Score:5, Funny)

by flydude18 ( 839328 ) writes: on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @04:34PM (#25126843)

Hey, if your wife was a bitch like Hera, you too would get wasted and go around taking various forms and impregnating mortal women, so don't judge.

age of cosmos (Score:1, Funny)

by floatingrunner ( 621481 ) writes: on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @04:34PM (#25126845)

this just in, scientists also found out that the solar system might also very old

Re:Uranus! (Score:2, Funny)

by orkim ( 238312 ) writes: on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @04:34PM (#25126863)

This just in. Saturn's rimjob is as old as Uranus!

Re:Uranus! (Score:4, Funny)

by jemtallon ( 1125407 ) writes: on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @04:36PM (#25126881) Journal

Oh. What's it called now?

Re:Uranus! (Score:5, Funny)

by Ambitwistor ( 1041236 ) writes: on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @04:38PM (#25126915)

Urectum [everything2.com].

Re:Uranus! (Score:5, Funny)

by jemtallon ( 1125407 ) writes: on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @04:40PM (#25126943) Journal

http://www.instantrimshot.com/ [instantrimshot.com]

Re:Uranus! (Score:5, Funny)

by Hognoxious ( 631665 ) writes: on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @04:42PM (#25126981) Homepage Journal

Was that pun intentional?

Just Well Preserved (Score:2, Funny)

by MaxwellEdison ( 1368785 ) writes: on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @04:56PM (#25127229)

They're very old, astronomers just didn't realize it because they were stored in mothballs [slashdot.org]

Re:Uranus! (Score:1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @04:58PM (#25127267)

I had no idea slashdot had people who were geeks and metrosexual at the same time

One Ring to bind them all (Score:1, Funny)

by Cigamit ( 200871 ) writes: on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @05:03PM (#25127339) Homepage

Of course the are old, they were forged by the Dark Lord Sauron before his conquest of middle earth. After attempting to bind the planets to his will and failing, he figured pesky little dwarfs, elves, and humans would be a bit easier.

Re:That's not too surprising (Score:3, Funny)

by Jah-Wren Ryel ( 80510 ) writes: on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @05:09PM (#25127443)

It was a multicultural joke.

Re:In other news... (Score:4, Funny)

by Hognoxious ( 631665 ) writes: on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @05:18PM (#25127557) Homepage Journal

... but only during the day.

Re:That's not too surprising (Score:5, Funny)

by not already in use ( 972294 ) writes: on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @05:20PM (#25127585)

Mortal women are easy.

Re:That's not too surprising (Score:4, Funny)

by rickkas7 ( 983760 ) writes: on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @05:28PM (#25127683)

You're mixing your contractions and possessives, so maybe you could call it even?

Re:Clumping (Score:2, Funny)

by TwoScoopsOfPig ( 900069 ) writes: <twoscoopsofpig@NoSpaM.gmail.com> on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @05:38PM (#25127803)

Kitty litter is more what you're looking for.

Re:That's not too surprising (Score:2, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @05:50PM (#25127987)

Thank's for pointing that out. That always bug's me.

Summary/Article wrong. (Score:2, Funny)

by hxftw ( 996114 ) writes: on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @06:12PM (#25128333) Homepage

Clearly they mean 6000 years?

Re:Roger Ebert's explanation: (Score:3, Funny)

by More_Cowbell ( 957742 ) * writes: on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @07:44PM (#25129311) Journal

Not quite.
I'm not sure if that was a joke or a troll, but he really does say they are 10,000 years old [suntimes.com]

Re:Uranus! (Score:4, Funny)

by Bill, Shooter of Bul ( 629286 ) writes: on Tuesday September 23, 2008 @08:53PM (#25129867) Journal

Attn Mods: This thread is ripe with puns about Anuses. Out of all of the threads ever on slashdot, this might be one someone might post a Goatse link out of Irony. And, it might be ironic, but I still don't want to see it.

rings older than the universe? (Score:2, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Wednesday September 24, 2008 @12:34AM (#25131367)

They can't be more thsn 6000 years old.

Re:That's not too surprising (Score:3, Funny)

by flyingsquid ( 813711 ) writes: on Wednesday September 24, 2008 @01:43AM (#25131959)

In any case, we now know Saturn's rings were there a good couple of years before the republican candidate, at least.
Indeed, Saturn's rings are ancient. Perhaps as old as 6,000 years (according to Sarah Palin)!

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Saturn's Rings May Be Very Old 125

Saturn's Rings May Be Very Old More Login

Saturn's Rings May Be Very Old

That's not too surprising (Score:4, Funny)

Uranus! (Score:3, Funny)

Re:That's not too surprising (Score:3, Funny)

Re:Uranus! (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Uranus! (Score:5, Funny)

Re:That's not too surprising (Score:3, Funny)

Re:That's not too surprising (Score:5, Funny)

age of cosmos (Score:1, Funny)

Re:Uranus! (Score:2, Funny)

Re:Uranus! (Score:4, Funny)

Re:Uranus! (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Uranus! (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Uranus! (Score:5, Funny)

Just Well Preserved (Score:2, Funny)

Re:Uranus! (Score:1, Funny)

One Ring to bind them all (Score:1, Funny)

Re:That's not too surprising (Score:3, Funny)

Re:In other news... (Score:4, Funny)

Re:That's not too surprising (Score:5, Funny)

Re:That's not too surprising (Score:4, Funny)

Re:Clumping (Score:2, Funny)

Re:That's not too surprising (Score:2, Funny)

Summary/Article wrong. (Score:2, Funny)

Re:Roger Ebert's explanation: (Score:3, Funny)

Re:Uranus! (Score:4, Funny)

rings older than the universe? (Score:2, Funny)

Re:That's not too surprising (Score:3, Funny)

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