The Phoebe ring is too dim to be seen. It was detected at infrared wavelengths by the Spitzer space telescope. This image is an artist's depiction. Note that Saturn and its other, closer rings, shown in an inset, are just a small dot at the size scale of the Phoebe ring. Click on image for full size (39 Kb) Image courtesy of NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute.

The Phoebe Ring is much larger than Saturn's other rings. Saturn's main ring system starts a few thousand kilometers above the top of Saturn's atmosphere and extends outward a few hundred thousand kilometers. The Phoebe Ring is roughly 100 times larger than the main ring system; it extends from about 6 million to about 12 million km above Saturn's cloudtops.

Saturn's moon Phoebe orbits within this ring and appears to be the source of the material that makes up the ring. The Phoebe Ring is very tenuous and has not yet been seen with visible light. The infrared Spitzer Space Telescope was able to detect the faint Phoebe Ring in IR images. The ring is composed of tiny flecks of ice and dust, probably knocked loose from Phoebe's surface by meteorite impacts over many millennia.

Saturn's main ring system lies within the planet's equatorial plane. The Phoebe Ring is tilted 27°. Part of the Phoebe Ring crosses the orbit of another moon of Saturn, Iapetus. The surface of Iapetus is odd; parts of it are very bright, while other areas are quite dark. Perhaps icy Iapetus is being splattered with dark particles from the Phoebe Ring. Phoebe itself has one of the darkest surfaces in our Solar System.

The ring was discovered by Anne Verbiscer and Michael Skrutskie of the University of Virginia and Douglas Hamilton of the University of Maryland. They announced their discovery on October 6, 2009.

This is how an artist thinks the Phoebe ring might look if we could see it. The Spitzer space telescope spotted the Phoebe ring. Spitzer can "see" infrared "light". Saturn and the other rings are just a tiny dot compared to the Phoebe ring. The inset picture shows Saturn magnified. Click on image for full size (39 Kb) Image courtesy of NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute.

The Phoebe Ring is one of the rings around the planet Saturn. The Phoebe Ring is much bigger than Saturn's other rings. It is about 100 times larger than the main ring system.

Saturn's moon Phoebe orbits within this ring. The ring is made up of tiny pieces of ice and dust. The ring particles probably come from Phoebe. They were probably knocked loose from Phoebe's surface by meteorite impacts over many, many years. Even though the Phoebe Ring is very large, there isn't much stuff in it. We can't see the Phoebe Ring in visible light, even using the world's most powerful telescopes. The Spitzer Space Telescope was able to detect the faint Phoebe Ring using infrared "light".

Saturn's main ring system is lined up with the planet's equator. The Phoebe Ring, on the other hand, is tilted 27°. Part of the Phoebe Ring crosses the orbit of another moon of Saturn, Iapetus. The surface of Iapetus is odd. Parts of the moon's surface are very bright, while other areas are very dark. Scientists think icy Iapetus is being splattered with dark particles from the Phoebe Ring. Phoebe itself has one of the darkest surfaces in our Solar System.

The ring was discovered by Anne Verbiscer and Michael Skrutskie of the University of Virginia and Douglas Hamilton of the University of Maryland. They announced their discovery on October 6, 2009.

This is how an artist thinks the Phoebe ring might look if we could see it. The Spitzer space telescope spotted the Phoebe ring. Spitzer can "see" infrared "light". Saturn and the other rings are just a tiny dot compared to the Phoebe ring. The inset picture shows Saturn magnified. Click on image for full size (39 Kb) Image courtesy of NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute.

The Phoebe Ring is one of the rings around the planet Saturn. The Phoebe Ring is much bigger than Saturn's other rings. It is about 100 times larger than the main ring system. The ring was discovered by Anne Verbiscer, Michael Skrutskie and Douglas Hamilton in October 2009.

Saturn's moon Phoebe orbits within this ring. The ring is made up of tiny pieces of ice and dust. The ring particles probably come from Phoebe. They were probably knocked loose from Phoebe's surface by meteorite impacts over many, many years. Even though the Phoebe Ring is very large, there isn't much stuff in it. We can't see the Phoebe Ring in visible light, even using the world's most powerful telescopes. The Spitzer Space Telescope was able to detect the faint Phoebe Ring using infrared "light".

Part of the Phoebe Ring crosses the orbit of another moon of Saturn, Iapetus. The surface of Iapetus is odd. Parts of the moon's surface are very bright, while other areas are very dark. Scientists think icy Iapetus is being splattered with dark particles from the Phoebe Ring. Phoebe has one of the darkest surfaces in our Solar System.