When we think of a ringed planet in our solar system, Saturn naturally comes to mind. Besides Saturn however, there are three other planets that have rings, namely Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune.
The Italian astronomer Galileo was the first to observe Saturn’s rings through a small telescope in the year 1610. Saturn has eight main rings including as many as 30 if you count the subdivisions between the main rings.
The rings of Uranus were the next to be discovered in 1977 by James Elliot and Jessica Mink. When Voyager 2 passed by Uranus on January of 1986 it sent back images of if its rings. At least 13 rings have been counted around Uranus.
Jupiter’s rings were discovered by the Voyager 1 probe in 1979. The rings consist of a thin bright outer ring and two faint wide inner rings.
Finally, Neptune was observed to have five rings that were imaged by Voyager 2 in 1989. They were actually discovered before Voyager by astronomers at La Silla Observatory in Chili in 1984.
The rings of these planets are not solid but are made of many small pieces of ice, rock, and dust that orbit each planet.
A small telescope of 60 mm will show the observer the rings of Saturn, but a larger telescope is needed to fully appreciate their beauty and grandeur.
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