Ringing Out the Old Solar System Theories

"Ring Robber," Ref:Science News v. 167, Jan. 8, 2005, p. 30, may add to the problems for Old Solar System scenarios (not that you'd ever hear there were any from most news sources).

Saturn's rings are already a bit of an enigma, as gravitational forces should clean up or disperse rings over evolutionary time scales. I recall that some especially wispy rings (say "especially wispy rings" five times, fast. ... Nice try.) were said to be preserved by "shepherd moons" that "herded" the ring particles with their gravitational forces on each side.

Maybe even that the moons were breaking up and adding material. Now, "Images show Saturn's moon Prometheus stealing particles from the planet's F ring." Sounds to me as if that's going the wrong way

Until Next Time,

David Bump
Philippians 3: 13 Brethren, I
count not myself to have
apprehended: but [this] one thing
[I do], forgetting those things
which are behind, and reaching
forth unto those things which are
before, 14 I press toward the
mark for the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus.

http://home.att.net/~david.bump

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