The 500-Million-Year-Old Evidence That Earth Had Rings

Did Earth have rings like Saturn? Get a 10% discount on your next VisiSolar purchase when you use code ASTRUM2026 or the following link: https://visisolar.com/discount/ASTRUM2026 ▀▀▀▀▀▀ Saturn’s giant rings make it the most easily recognisable planet in the solar system. But what if Earth had a ring system of its own? The answer might surprise you. New evidence suggests that half a billion years ago, Earth actually did have its own rings encircling the planet. What would they have looked like from the ground? And could Earth ever develop a spectacular set of rings again in the future? ▀▀▀▀▀▀ 0:00 Rings on Earth 1:45 What Did They Look Like? 3:42 The Evidence 7:30 Clues on Mars and the Moon 9:28 How Did the Rings Form? 12:38 Mars Had Rings Too 14:35 Did the Rings Trigger an Ice Age? 15:27 Where Did the Rings Go? 17:38 Ring Aurora 18:22 The Moon 19:21 What If Earth Had Rings Today? 23:07 Impact on Astronomy ▀▀▀▀▀▀ To stay on top of space news, sign up to the Astrum newsletter: https://astrumspace.kit.com A huge thanks to our Patreons who help make these videos possible. Sign-up here to support the channel: https://bit.ly/4aiJZNF Astrum Displate Posters: https://displate.com/artist/astrumspace?art=5f04759ac338b Astrum Merch: https://astrum-shop.fourthwall.com/ Join us on the Astrum discord: https://discord.gg/TKw8Hpvtv8 ▀▀▀▀▀▀ Astrum Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6jPRrbq3o3dpvBb173ZTKi?si=a90d3efe3b704c83 Astrum Earth: https://youtube.com/@AstrumEarth Astrum Extra: https://www.youtube.com/@astrumextra Astrum Spanish: https://www.youtube.com/@astrumespanol Astrum Portuguese: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChn_-OwvV63mr1yeUGvH-BQ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ References: “Evidence Suggesting That Earth Had a Ring in the Ordovician”, via sciencedirect.com https://astrumspace.info/ordovicianring “What If Earth Had Rings?”, via livescience.com https://astrumspace.info/earthrings “Roche Limit Explained”, via skyatnightmagazine.com https://astrumspace.info/rochelimit “Types of Orbits”, via esa.int https://astrumspace.info/typesoforbits “Hill Sphere”, via cosmobc.com https://astrumspace.info/hillsphere “Collisional Damping in Debris Discs”, via aanda.org https://astrumspace.info/debrisdiscs “Satellite Ring Cycle of Mars”, via nature.com https://astrumspace.info/marsring “Gravity Gradient Torque”, via sciencedirect.com https://astrumspace.info/gravitytorque “Late Ordovician Mass Extinction”, via annualreviews.org https://astrumspace.info/ordovician “Resonances and Rings”, via cornell.edu https://astrumspace.info/resonancering ▀▀▀▀▀▀ Credits: Writer: Julia Masselos Video Editor: Alexandre Nowakowski Audio Editor: James Horsley Researcher: Shourya Shrivastava Script Editor: Damaris McColgan Thumbnail Designers: Peter Sheppard, Juane Dames Publishing Lead: Georgina Brenner Edit Producer: Poppy Pinnock Head of Astrum: Jess Jordan Creator of Astrum: Alex McColgan With special thanks to: NASA/ESO/ESA #Astrum #Space #EarthRings