Look at how the Earth looked like, whether she had the same ring as Saturn

Of course, our planet was lucky that it revolves around a rather large satellite, but if instead of the moon to the Earth surrounded by the same ring as Saturn, the sky above us it would be much more picturesque.

In fact, one ring at the earth still there. When a planet collided with Earth Thea, a great number of its fragments were released into space. These fragments began to revolve around the earth, forming a belt, but eventually merged into one - our moon. It was only thanks to the fact that the fragments Thea rotated within the so-called "Roche limit».



In 1848, French mathematician Edouard Roche has calculated that if the largest satellite of the planet could approach close enough, he would have been torn apart by gravity of the planet. The fact that the force of gravity acts on the planet satellite unevenly very strong pull test that part of the satellite that is located closest to the planet, and weakest, respectively, account for the most distant point on the planet. The closer a satellite is approaching, the greater the difference of these forces, and at some point the satellite just torn to pieces. Each planet has a limit, which is called the Roche limit.

According to one version, the rings of Saturn are just inside that limit. The matter of which they are composed, not forming a satellite, because the force of attraction of Saturn does not allow particles to regroup.





Another popular theory is that once Saturn had one or more satellites orbiting beyond Rocha. The larger the planet, the greater the force of attraction it has, and the greater the force of attraction, the more the Roche limit. As soon as Saturn increases in size, the Roche limit receded farther and farther, until he reached the satellites. Satellites are blown to pieces, which became the rings of Saturn.



According to another theory, several hundred million years ago, one or more satellites of Saturn approached the Roche limit and break into pieces. Millions of years of fragments orbiting gas giant, facing each other and blown to pieces everything smaller and smaller until it crumbled into particles that make up matter today and rings.

Any of these scenarios could form a ring and around our planet. That did not happen, but we can dream up, the Earth would look like, whether she had the same ring as Saturn.

If our rings were proportionate to the rings of Saturn, then imagine how they would look with different places in the world is not so difficult.

If you look from the equator, they would be directly overhead and seemed to have a bright line, bent from horizon to horizon. So, for example, the ring would look from the capital of Ecuador, Quito:





If you drive off a little north - to Guatemala, the ring began to spread across the sky. The observed glow of the Earth from outer space would be many times brighter, as reflected from the rings would be much more sunlight than the Moon.





Go somewhere in Polynesia, to the Tropic of Capricorn (23 ° south latitude), one would see a completely different, no less picturesque scene every night in the middle of the ring appears dark oval - the shadow of the Earth. Below you can see such rings, whatever they looked at midnight, when the shadow would get to its highest point. Along the edges of the shadow frames the orange-pink stripes - is the sunlight passes through the Earth's atmosphere.





Closer to Washington (38 ° latitude) rings start to sink below the horizon, but still clearly visible both day and night.





At the Arctic Circle rings barely visible on the horizon. However, they pour a mean terrain near the town of Nome, even brighter light than our moon. But unlike the sun and the moon, they remain in the sky during the day and night - around the clock at the same location.





via factroom.ru