November 01, 2024
A recent study found that Earth could have possessed a Saturn-like ring near the Equator approximately 450 million years ago. Researchers from Australia’s Monash University examined 21 asteroid craters from a period when the Earth witnessed an extraordinarily high frequency of meteorite collisions called the Ordovician impact spike. They found that all these craters were in close proximity to the Equator. They believe that an asteroid that came close to Earth millions of years ago disintegrated due to Earth’s gravity. This asteroid debris formed a ring around the Earth for a brief period. Researchers believe some of the asteroid pieces from the ring descended to Earth, leading to meteorite impacts. The ring structure is also believed to have cooled the planet during that period.
DID YOU KNOW
Some of the pieces of debris that constitute Saturn’s rings are as enormous as mountains.
Image for representational purposes
