/dev/null Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091007/ap_on_...turn_giant_ring Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 I saw that on BBC news this evening. Holy crap they said if they were visible from earth with the naked eye they would appear larger than the moon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091007/ap_on_...turn_giant_ring I'm slightly surprised they found it. Planetary observations are generally never done with a wide-enough field of view to see something that big. I wouldn't be surprised if, now that they know what to look for, they found something similar around Jupiter or Uranus. Now let the "giant rings around Uranus" jokes commence... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerball Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 I'm slightly surprised they found it. Planetary observations are generally never done with a wide-enough field of view to see something that big. I wouldn't be surprised if, now that they know what to look for, they found something similar around Jupiter or Uranus. Now let the "giant rings around Uranus" jokes commence... OK, explain this to me smart guy: Before the discovery Saturn was known to have seven main rings named A through E Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
/dev/null Posted October 8, 2009 Author Share Posted October 8, 2009 Watch it live tomorrow starting at 6:15 EST on NASA's website http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 OK, explain this to me smart guy: That's wrong. Not including this discovery, Saturn has nine rings, named D through E. Yes, you read that right. Nine rings. D through E. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerball Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 That's wrong. Not including this discovery, Saturn has nine rings, named D through E. Yes, you read that right. Nine rings. D through E. that's impossible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 that's impossible No, it's not. The D-ring is innermost. The E-ring (excepting the recent discovery) is outermost. There are seven rings in between. Whoever wrote the AP piece probably googled "outermost ring of Saturn" and found it was the E-ring, and figured they were named starting from A going outwards. Basically, they were stupid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 i just wanted to stop in and say... URANUS! *runs from thread, giggling* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steely Dan Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Here's the link for the NASA article; http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/spitzer/...r-20091006.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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